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Amid Tension in Ukraine, Russia Celebrates Victory Day Amid Tension in Ukraine, Russia Celebrates Victory Day
(35 minutes later)
MOSCOW — Russia’s thundering Victory Day parade, a lengthy review of its newly refurbished military and of its most advanced hardware, rolled through Red Square in Moscow on Friday, the entire event under global scrutiny against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s aggressive policy toward neighboring Ukraine. MOSCOW — Russia’s thundering Victory Day parade, a lengthy review of its newly refurbished military and of its most advanced hardware, rolled through Red Square in Moscow on Friday as the event played out under global scrutiny in light of tensions with neighboring Ukraine.
Celebration of the March annexation of Crimea was not subtle, with the first armored personnel carrier entering the square flying a big Crimean flag. Some 11,000 soldiers and 150 military vehicles, from tanks to intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, rumbled through the square under cloudless blue skies. The flyover was to include 69 aircraft, marking the 69 years since the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Celebration of the March annexation of Crimea was not subtle, as the first vehicles to enter the square behind row after row of tightly choreographed marching soldiers made clear. The first vehicle, an armored personnel carrier from a Black Sea Marines brigade, flew a big Crimean flag. Some 11,000 soldiers and 150 military vehicles, from tanks to intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, rumbled through the square. Through cloudless skies, the flyover included 69 aircraft, marking the 69 years since the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
In brief opening remarks before the first soldiers marched, President Vladimir V. Putin said that the holiday represented all that makes Russia strong. In brief opening remarks before the first soldiers marched, President Vladimir V. Putin said that the celebration represented all that makes Russia strong.
“This is the holiday when the invincible power of patriotism triumphs,” Mr. Putin said. “When all of us particularly feel what it means to be faithful to the Motherland and how important it is to defend its interests.”“This is the holiday when the invincible power of patriotism triumphs,” Mr. Putin said. “When all of us particularly feel what it means to be faithful to the Motherland and how important it is to defend its interests.”
Mr. Putin’s annual Victory Day speech is a combination of a national pep rally and a summary of the state of the Russian Federation, with the president using it as the most important platform of the year to outline what he wants for the country. Often, Mr. Putin’s annual Victory Day speech is at once a national pep rally and a summary of the state of the Russian Federation, with the president using the address to emphasize important positions on foreign or domestic policy. This year, however, he stuck to just a few minutes talking about patriotism.
On Wednesday, Mr. Putin announced that he was pulling the Russian Army back from the border with Ukraine and that he wanted to pursue a mediated settlement there. He also urged separatists in Ukraine not to hold a referendum on sovereignty this Sunday. Russian news media have been reporting that the president would probably put in an appearance in Sevastopol, Crimea, now restored as the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, on Friday. The Kremlin media office would not confirm those reports, but state-run television has been plugging a special parade of the fleet expected to start at 4 p.m. local time, and it is possible that Mr. Putin might make more extensive remarks there.
But Western leaders were divided about whether his remarks were a real offer of a peaceful settlement or only a means of distancing himself from the vote in southeastern Ukraine and the spiraling violence there. Mr. Putin repeated Russia’s demand that Ukraine undertake constitutional reforms that grant wide autonomy to the regions. Sevastopol is marking the 70th anniversary of its bloody liberation from Nazi occupation, and the heavy presence of war veterans there helped bolster support in Russia for the effort to reclaim control of Crimea.
That is seen as an attempt to continue to influence the eastern portions of the country, or to destabilize it if necessary, to prevent Kiev from becoming too close to the European Union or to NATO. On Wednesday, Mr. Putin announced that he was pulling the Russian Army back from the Ukrainian border and that he wanted to pursue a mediated settlement. He also urged separatists in Ukraine not to hold a referendum on sovereignty on Sunday.
Senior officials and state-run television have maintained a steady drumbeat since February that the rebellion that overthrew Ukraine’s government was an attempt to revive Nazi fascism — thus linking Russian opposition to it to the World War II victory. Western leaders were divided about whether his remarks represented a genuine effort to reach a peaceful settlement or were only a means of distancing himself from a vote in southeastern Ukraine and from the worsening violence there. Mr. Putin repeated Russia’s demand that Ukraine approve constitutional changes that would grant wide autonomy to the regions.
That is seen as an attempt to continue to influence the eastern part of Ukraine, or to destabilize it if necessary, to prevent Kiev from establishing tighter links with the European Union and with NATO.
Senior officials and state-run television have maintained a steady drumbeat since February, maintaining that the rebellion that overthrew Ukraine’s government was an attempt to revive Nazi fascism — thus making a link between Russian opposition to the February 21 ouster of President Viktor F. Yanukovych and the World War II victory.
Under the years of Communist rule, May Day was the most important holiday for Russians, but that feeling has faded after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, particularly in the past 10 years. In transforming Victory Day into the main national holiday, Mr. Putin has sought to burnish the history of the Soviet period — notably the victory over Nazi Germany in what is known in Russia as The Great Patriotic War — to erase the sense of humiliation and shame created by the disarray and loss of international clout after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The parade and the day are primarily a tribute to the dwindling numbers of World War II veterans. But the parade provokes all kinds of nostalgia. When reviewing the troops, for example, Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu stood in the back of a convertible Zil limousine. The premier vehicle of the Soviet Union, the car has virtually disappeared from Russia’s roads, replaced by Maybachs, Range Rovers and Audis
“The memory of the war and the great victory was a life-shaping experience for several generations,” said Ivan I. Kurilla, a historian at Volgograd State University.
But historians worry that under Mr. Putin the emphasis has been placed more on the victory itself as a symbol of Russian glory, shunting aside the more grueling aspects of the struggle that led to the deaths of 27 million people, according to the Russian count.
On Monday, Mr. Putin signed a law that made it a crime to rehabilitate Nazism or to “distort” the Soviet Union’s role in World War II, punishable by up to five years in jail.
This week, Moscow was even festooned with red stars — the symbol of the Red Army has become the symbol of the 1945 victory. The orange-and-black ribbon of St. George, which had been used to symbolize the victory, now seems more often to represent support for the Russian state. It is widely displayed to indicate backing for the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea, for example.
Mr. Putin has made upgrading and modernizing the military a priority, with the parade providing evidence that Russia again possesses the military muscle that identifies it as a power to be reckoned with.
The policy has included a notable rise in military spending, slated to jump to approximately $100 billion in 2016 from $80 billion this year. Much of that investment has focused on upgrading nuclear weapons and rapid deployment forces.
Although the reforms have not reached all the ranks in the heavily conscripted military, experts were impressed by the professionalism of the Russian soldiers who effected the takeover of Crimea in March. Their mobility, equipment and general demeanor were markedly changed from the disheveled Russian forces deployed in the short war in Georgia in 2008 or those that fought for years against Islamic militants in the North Caucasus.
Since 2012, salaries for most military personnel have roughly tripled, to between $700 and $1,150 a month for privates and sergeants — a notable sum for Russia. Housing and education benefits have increased, too.
The public has been supportive, with the swift Russian seizure of Crimea a point of pride. At the time, Mr. Putin denied that the army had been deployed there, although he finally admitted its role in late April.
Since the soldiers in camouflage wore no insignia and would not confirm their nationality, they were often referred to in news reports as “little green men” or “polite people.” The expression has sprouted on various T-shirt lines and was even celebrated in a song by the Russian Army ensemble choir. A sampling of the lyrics:
“Polite people will preserve the honor and glory of our fatherland.
Helmets are polite, faces are polite, even the steel machines are polite.”
Western governments opposed the annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and leveled sanctions against some of Mr. Putin’s closest political allies and business leaders. But the fear that Russia would dismember Ukraine has overshadowed opposition to the annexation.
Russia seized Crimea from the Ottoman Empire in 1783 and held the territory until the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine in 1954. Mr. Putin said taking Crimea back was righting a historical wrong.