Putin creates the Russian pride of the war in Ukraine during the Moscow procession

A scene of the Russian war was a designer to instill pride at home, impress the allies and intimidate enemies.

the Military procession On Friday in Moscow, the eighty anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany was the most expansionary celebration in Russia on vacation years ago, and at least two goals.

More than 180 pieces of military apparatus roam through Red Square Stones in a cold but sunny morning, including some of the latest artillery systems in Russia, drones and armored vehicles used in their invasion of Ukraine. More than 11,500 members of the service have shouted with the complex uniforms, “Ya Hala!” They are walking behind the walls of the Kremlin. The formation of the bomber jets exudes the exhaust that drew the sky over the onion domes of the Cathedral of St. Basil in red, white and blue from the Russian flag.

“This is very impressive – you should be proud,” Badr Abdi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Egypt, told me, as he walks from the spectator platform.

It was part of me.

She was born in Siberia in recent years of the Soviet Union, and I grew up in watching classic Soviet films about World War II and attending the most humble day marches in my hometown, where she got the first money in the pocket to collect empty beer bottles in the street. The Soviet defeat of the Nazis was a legend to build a nation in Russia since its appearance from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

My colleagues and I still believed, and we still believe that the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in World War II have made an unparalleled contribution to preserving democracy in Europe. This Russian opinion unites, regardless of their political views or age.

He stands in the journalism area during the presentation at Red Square for the first time and listening to the song of World War II that I knew by heart of childhood – “wake up, a huge nation, wake up in a deadly battle” – ignited my pride in the sacrifices of my Salafs. But I am not confused on the anniversary of World War II with Russian militarization today, the main goal of the Kremlin propaganda and the primary topic of my report.

The guests emphasized the stands behind the dual public relations message in the Kremlin: Russia stands united with its partners against what it offers as a confrontation with the West in Ukraine.

In World War II, ancient warriors have formed medals on the shoulders with Russian celebrities in designer clothes, diplomats wearing suits with Russian soldiers mixed on vacation from Ukraine, and charming partners of Russian officials with African officers in desert fatigue and Tariqa.

I do not remember the last time I saw such a diverse major covers in a general event: the tradition of the Second World War garment, the high custody caps, the Iranian baseball hats embroidered with large brackets, and Burgundy bertets of Burkina Faso soldiers, who took power in a field three years ago.

In the field, he joined Russian soldiers and students in the march of the visit of 13 allied countries, including China, Vietnam and Myanmar. On the covered central platform, President Vladimir F. sat. Putin from Russia near the heads of more than 20 countries, more than twice the number that attended the offer last year.

“We won in World War II a coalition,” Oleg, a volunteer soldier in the Russian army, told Siberia Pattalion in Ukraine, walking to his seat, referring to the Soviet and Western allies in the 1940s.

“I am here, I feel we are not alone.” “We will win again.”

Later on Friday, he and his comrades intended to ride a train to join the battle for the besieged Ukrainian city of Chasif Yar, said Oleg, who agreed to conduct an interview on the condition of using his first name only, in line with the military protocol.

On Friday, the force on Friday was not intended to deepen the current alliances, but also to persuade potential partners who can help weaken Western efforts to isolate the Russian economy more.

“We need to build new economic bridges and investor bridges,” Kirill Dmitryv, the Kremlin investment envoy, told me in Red Midan. Mr. Dimitriev leads talks with the Trump administration to lift US sanctions and secure new US investment.

As a public relationship, the offer was expensive. In addition to the cost of transportation and housing tens of thousands of guests and participants, the offer brought the economic activity in central Moscow, a city of more than 20 million, close to stopping for several days.

The show was noticeable not only for those who came, but also for those who did not. In 2005, the political leaders who attended President George W. Bush were; President Jacques Chirac from France; Counselor Gerhard Schroeder from Germany; The Secretary -General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

This year, the Prime Minister in Slovakia, Robert Fico, was the only leader of the European Union to attend.

A mixture of nostalgia and patriotism was noticeable among some members of the cultural elite of Russia in the stands, who traveled before the war in the world and were influenced by Western celebrities.

“It is not the whole world, of course,” said Sergey Mazayev, a man of confrontation in the jazz band in the nineties in the nineties. “But the most convenient came, because I tell you what: Moscow is the best place for parties in the world.”

It seems that the officers with the Stone face of Asian countries stand attention in the arena as he was talking about unlikely candidates in the Moscow night club, but Mr. Mazayev was taken.

The columns of armored soldiers and vehicles in the arena played the stereotypes of Russia’s inexhaustible resources and will be at the heart of the country’s national identity and global projection. From an early age, we were taught in schools and popular culture that Russia’s breadth, mixed over time, has swallowed up the Nazi invaders, the armies of Napoleon, and the Knights of Totone – the great military forces in their ages.

The scene indicates the show to the Russians who watch on television and foreign visitors in the stands that regardless of the number of Russian soldiers who were killed or disturbed in Ukraine, Russia will raise and train more; Regardless of the number of sanctions that suffocate its economy or Ukrainian drones, the Russian warehouses will be blown, the new tanks and the highlights will continue from their factories.

Although it is a strong show, it damages Russia’s difficulties in the battlefield and in the economy.

After the show ended, Grigoriy Ponomarenko, one of the old Soviets who saw fighting in World War II.

“The Russian people are the most people in the world,” said Mr. Bonomarinco, 99, who fought throughout the way to Berlin and shortly after Germany’s surrender, was a personal guard during the Botsdam Conference Conference between the Allied leaders. He said he saw Joseph Stalin Winston Churchill. “I will not eat for two consecutive days; all I care about is that my pocket was full of bullets.”

Mr. Bonomarinco came to the show from the occupied Ukrainian city of Luhansk, where he was born and was formulated in 18 years in the Soviet army after the Nazi invasion.

He said about his hometown: “I am very happy because we are Russia now, because we are speaking Russian, we are Russians.”

The batch of what the Kremlin considers an ethnic unit between the Russian and Ukrainian people, at least in the east of the country, one of Moscow’s central justifications for the conquest of Ukraine.

Speaking to Mr. Bonomarinco made me realize the power of the Kremlin’s exploitation of the historical memory of the Second World War: Many in Russia believe that they are defending them again.