Fighter jets screamed over Red Square and heavy tanks rumbled over its cobblestones on Thursday as Russia flexed its military muscle on the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The first decision to hold Victory Day parades was taken by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin himself after the country lost an estimated 27 million people defending its territory and the Eastern Front. The tradition has been given extra fanfare by President Vladimir Putin, an ardent nationalist whose patriotic fervour has helped him win strong backing from the middle class.
The Victory Day parades have expanded during Putin’s 13 years in power to include heavy intercontinental missiles and Tu-95 bombers that can easily reach the shores of the United States.
The tradition has been accompanied by a return of pro-Soviet rhetoric and a defence of Moscow’s decisive role in the war that Putin alluded on Thursday.
“We will always remember that it was specifically Russia, the Soviet Union, that undermined the abhorrent, bloody, supercilious plans of the Nazis and kept them from controlling the world,” Putin said at the nationally televised ceremony. “Our soldiers saved freedom and independence by defending their motherland without sparing themselves, liberating Europe and claiming a victory whose grandeur will live on for centuries.”
The 68th anniversary of what Russia still calls The Great Patriotic War included 11,000 soldiers marching in lockstep to a military band as huge banners reading “May 9” decorated the Kremlin’s walls.