The Russians remember World War II with victory over their minds

Eighty miles from Moscow, the garden repeats the sound of explosions and shooting.

While pillars of thick gray smoke rise in the air, the Red Army storms via a bridge and battles to control a small island. More Soviet soldiers arrive on a boat from all over the lake.

Once they arrived on the island, they tear the swastic cross and replaced it with the hammer and the sickle of the Soviet Union. victory.

A large crowd monitors the safety of the beach. What they see is a historical re -legislation of one of the final battles of Berlin in 1945. This led to the surrender of Nazi Germany and what Moscow still refers to the great victory.

The battle for Berlin, which is revealed in front of me in the town of Dubna, is one of many events in Russia on the eighties of the Soviet victory in World War II.

The anniversary receives tremendous attention in a country where the national idea is largely built about the idea of ​​Russia as Victor and a victim.

“I am here because my grandfather fought in this war,” one of the spectators, Katia.

“He disappeared near Berlin. We later discovered that he was killed in January 1945.”

Eighty years old for the son of Katia fighting in Ukraine.

“My son is in a war now. He is in the” private military operation “. I tried to talk about it. But he has not listened to anyone since he was a child.

He told me: “I am my ciscard.” I answered him, “Go fighting, if you are the Caesar.” He and his friend went together. His friend was killed. “

The history of the Katia family is the story of different generations fighting on the front line.

But in very different circumstances.

In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union to try to overcome the largest country in the world and secure global domination. The Soviet soldiers (grandfather Katia among them) fought to liberate their country from the Nazis. Moscow’s victory came at a huge humanitarian cost: More than 27 million Soviet citizens were killed in what is known here as the great homeland or the great national war.

But in 2022, it was Russia that launched a large -scale invasion of its neighbor. What the Kremlin still calls a “special military operation” was widely seen as an attempt to force Ukraine to return to the Russian political orbit. In March 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted an overwhelming majority a decision condemning Russia’s “aggression”.

However, the Russian authorities depict the war in Ukraine as a continuation of the Second World War. The official narration here creates a parallel fact, as Russia is fighting again Nazi and fascism, in Ukraine and through Europe. Russia, the country that invaded Ukraine, exposes itself as a victim of external aggression.

“Historically and socially, victory in the great national war was always the cornerstone of the unified Russian consciousness,” explains André Kulsnikov, the column writer in Novaya Gazetta, because there was no glue for the nation: only this event.

“But what is happening now is a special thing. Now the great national war is presented as the first step in our permanent war with the West, against” Eurofascism “.

In Russia, television plays a major role in spreading the official message that Europe cannot be trusted at that time and cannot be trusted now. Recently, on Russian television, I saw a documentary entitled “Europe against Russia. The Crusaders in Hitler.” It was about how European countries cooperated with the Nazis during World War II.

There was no mention of the 1939 non -exposure agreement between Hitler and Stalin: Under his secret protocol, Germany and the Soviet Union have carved the areas of influence in Eastern Europe.

Last month, she launched a Russian TV presenter against German Chancellor Friedrich Mirz, a strong supporter of Ukraine’s military support. The dialogue program has launched the German leader “A Nazi Scumbag” for comments about Russia. In his speech directly to the consultant, the anchor said that the Russians “are holding you and your comrades responsible for killing 27 million Soviet citizens.”

Icons support ideology. In the town of Khimki, near Moscow, a memorial was depicted recently unveiled as a Red Army soldier alongside a Russian fighting in Ukraine. Frankly pictures of Russian soldiers who were killed in Ukraine were placed under two fighters.

Read a inscription: “By preserving the past, defend the future!”

Wars in the past and the present: collected together in bronze.

In the period dating back to the day of victory, Russia was soaked in a great victory. Last month, the Soyuz missile was detonated to celebrate the eighty anniversary of the Nazi Germany defeat by Baikonur Cosmodrome.

To the bottom on the ground, at the Motherhood Hospital in the city of Kimirovo, Siberia, newborns wear caps and heads of the miniature Red Army.

On Telegram channel, the hospital explained that the battle clothes for children served “as a reminder of the ties between generations, the courage of defenders of the country and how even the youngest Russian citizen is part of a great history.”

In Moscow, the Russian word of “Al -Nasr” – “Popida” – is located everywhere: on giant advertising boards, on stickers in the windows of stores, even stuck on the side of the roadbeds on the roads. Underground, the private “victory trains” were decorated on the Moscow Metro with pictures of World War II and the words: “Be proud!” And “remember!”

The tanks were rolling on the main Moscow Street, Tverskaya, in the rehearsals of Big 9 May Parade at Red Square. In the Soviet ages, after 1945, the military marches on the day of victory were rare. During the era of Vladimir Putin, they became a major element of what is now a national holiday in Russia – a day not only to remember the victims of World War II, but to present Russian military power and unite people about Russia’s idea as an invincible country.

In fact, the Soviet Union was victorious in the great national war. But after eighty years, despite the confident statements by Russian officials, victory is evading Moscow in Ukraine. The “Special Military Operation” for Karmlin was expected to last a few days, or a few weeks. After more than three years of war – and huge losses on both sides – it is still unclear how and when the fighting will end.

The Kremlin says that 29 world leaders, including eleventh Jinping, will attend the victory day. According to Moscow, Serbia President Alexander Fotic and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will visit Russia for celebrations. Security guarantee for military parade and guests in Red Square will be a top priority for the Kremlin. More than that after two consecutive nights of Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow.

Once again in Dubna, the German resistance and the Red Army collapsed in full control. The legislation has ended.

Some spectators here believe that Russia’s official photography as a besieged castle threatened by the West.

“Both Britain and America have betrayed us and threatened us,” Lydia told me. “But we are flexible. You cannot defeat Russia.”

When I talk to Fyodor Melnikov, 98, it does not enter into politics. The military parade sparked painful memories. Fyodor’s brother was killed in the Great Patriotic War.

“War is terrifying,” says Fyodor. “People must be allowed to live freely. Let them work, let them live their lives, let them die normally.”

Fyodor wrote a poem about his late brother, on war. He reads it to me. In translation it seems like this:

“A unified costume I never worn,

A battle I have never seen.

But in my mind I see

My brother goes to war.

The only thing he told me

Before he went, this was:

“Live, my little brother, be fine.”

I will bring victory to the house. “

Friday, along with the entire Russia, Fyodor Melnikov will celebrate the eighty anniversary of the great victory in 1945.

But it will also be to remember: friends and family who never return.

A day to admit the cost of war.