Russia and Ukraine commemorated this May 9 the Victory Day against the Nazi occupation in two different contexts: Russia as an invading country and Ukraine as an invaded country, when in 1945 both belonged to the same State: the Soviet Union.
(Read: Putin defends the invasion in Ukraine during Victory Day)
While the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, justified in a mass parade in Moscow, with all the military paraphernalia, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, giving, among other reasons, that of saving Donbas from Nazism; the Ukrainian president, Volodomir Zelensky, was forced to record his speech on a kyiv street, with a barricade in the background, to compare the Russian offensive with the Nazi one.
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In a speech at the start of the annual grand military parade in Moscow’s Red Square commemorating the Soviet victory over the Nazis in 1945, Putin said his army was fighting in Ukraine to defend the “motherland” against the “unacceptable threat” posed by its neighbor, supported by the West.
Putin has made May 9 a patriotic date for Russians, even though the USSR lost 27 million of its citizens in the war. Faced with this terrible balance, the Russian president on Monday pointed out Russia’s duty to avoid another world conflict.
“Our duty is to save the memory of those who crushed Nazism (…) and do everything possible so that the horror of a new world war does not happen again,” he said.
What is commemorated on May 9?
As highlighted above, this date for the former members of the Soviet Union celebrates the victory over the Nazi troops in 1945, a prelude to the end of World War II.
The events are celebrated after the signing of the surrender of the German troops in Europe at around 10:43 p.m. Central European Time on May 8, which for the then Union of Socialist Socialist Republics would be 12:43 a.m. on the 9 on Moscow time.
Although now the holiday is celebrated in independent states, the unity in this commemoration is especially due to the victories of the predecessors, as Volodomir Zelensky described them in his speech.
“We are proud of our predecessors who, together with other peoples in an anti-Hitler coalition, defeated Nazism. We will not allow anyone to annex this victory, take it for themselves,” he said in a video, seen walking in the central avenue of kyiv.
How is this date commemorated?
To annually commemorate the date, all the countries that were once part of the USSR have this day as a holiday, in which the governments have also taken the opportunity to hold military parades.
Likewise, year after year a massive call is made by citizens to take to the streets and celebrate these events together with the militias. The ones that stand out the most in the celebration are the parades of Belarus and Russia, which always show off their troops to the world.
Although this commemoration has not been every year. The first celebration of this date came after completing two decades of the German surrender, 1965and before the separation of the Soviet Union in 1991, the celebration was paused until Russia resumed it in 1995.
In Russia, apart from the military parades of both veterans and enlisted troops in the army, the most important act is to commemorate the memory of the ‘Unknown Soldier’, which honors those who fell in war.
This monument is commonly visited by the leaders who visit the Kremlin in diplomatic acts.
What does this day symbolize in Ukraine?
Our enemy (Russia) dreamed that we would give up celebrating May 9 and the victory over the Nazis so that the word denazification would have a chance.
According to the words of the current Ukrainian president, Volodomir Zelenski, this day is important for the troops of his country in the current context of war in which Russia and Ukraine are immersed.
Although there are fears of a possible declaration of war, or worse, a further escalation of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory, Zelensky has been emphatic that “on the day of victory over the Nazis, we are fighting for another victory, the road to this victory is long but we have no doubts about our victory. We won then, we’ll win now.”
According to Russia, this ‘special operation’ launched on February 24 in Ukraine is aimed at “denazifying” this territory, which many interpret as an attempt to re-unify the Soviet Union, although this has been dismissed for now.
“A totally unacceptable threat was building, right on our borders,” he said, again accusing the neighboring country of neo-Nazism and calling the offensive a “preemptive response” and the “only good decision.”
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from BBC, AFP and EFE
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