Military parade: Putin presents himself as a victim of his own war

After all, the heads of state and government from seven allied ex-Soviet states finally came to Moscow at short notice for the big military parade. And so Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin stood in Red Square on Tuesday, accompanied by an international audience, when he once again portrayed Russia as the alleged victim of its own war of aggression. Marking the 78th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, Putin repeated Moscow’s propaganda claim that Russia was defending itself in Ukraine against a resurgent fascism. In the meantime, the 70-year-old could not show any military successes, even after well over a year of war.

“Today, civilization is again at a crucial turning point. A real war has been unleashed against our fatherland,” Putin said, referring to the fighting raging in Ukraine, which he himself ordered more than a year ago. Elderly World War II veterans were seated behind him in the grandstand.

“But we fought back international terrorism, we will protect the residents of Donbass and we will ensure our security,” the Kremlin chief continued. He also once again claimed that Ukraine had become “hostage” to Western states that wanted to destroy Russia. “Their goal is (…) the disintegration and destruction of our country.”

Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 – and justifies it again and again with the unsubstantiated claim that the West threatened Russia.

War doesn’t go according to plan

From Moscow’s perspective, however, things are not going according to plan at all: For example, Russian troops have not completely conquered the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where a section of the front is currently running, despite months of fighting that resulted in extremely heavy losses. In addition, Western arms aid for the attacked country is not waning, and a much-heralded Ukrainian counter-offensive is yet to come. And as if all of this weren’t enough from the Kremlin’s point of view, open power struggles have been emerging in the Russian military leadership for months.

Internationally, Putin has now been sharply criticized for denying responsibility for the war he unleashed, which has already claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians. “There is only one person responsible for the illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and that is President Putin,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “The crimes being committed are appalling. The suffering inflicted on the Ukrainian people is appalling.”

Scholz accuses Putin of “power behavior”.

In a speech in the European Parliament, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) accused the head of the Kremlin of “powerfulness”. The future does not belong to the revisionists who dream of national glory and thirst for imperial power.

From a military point of view, the parade in Moscow was significantly smaller than in previous years. Contrary to statements by the Ministry of Defense to the contrary, only 8,000 Russian soldiers finally marched – fewer than at any time in 15 years. Because among them were men who had fought in Ukraine in recent months, Kiev quickly declared the event a “murderers’ parade.” Last year, Putin was cheered by around 11,000 military personnel.

There was less to see this time at the weapons show. Armored wheeled vehicles, which can also be equipped with modern nuclear weapons, drove across Red Square. But modern main battle tanks, which are apparently more urgently needed in Ukraine at the moment, were not represented.

Flight part of the parade is cancelled

The flight part of the parade was canceled again. Bad weather was the reason for the cancellation last year, but this time the sky was clear. The Kremlin initially left open whether there were security concerns. With this justification, at least the traditional “Immortal Regiment” march, which is usually held in the afternoon and in which Putin also took part several times, was canceled.

Since there were no parades in more than 20 other Russian cities for fear of attacks, it may have surprised some that there was a celebration on Red Square at all. Just about a week ago, a sensational drone incident occurred at the Kremlin, which Moscow presented as an alleged attempt by Ukraine to attack Putin. Kyiv rejected this. Some international observers then speculated that Moscow might call off the entire parade, citing security risks.

Appealing to Russian patriotism

But his appearance on this holiday, which is virtually holy for many Russians, may have been important to Putin in order to appeal to the patriotism of his own population. According to surveys, most of them are in favor of the war anyway, but they actually panicked last fall when Putin ordered partial mobilization.

“To Russia! To our heroic armed forces! To victory! Hooray!” Putin shouted at the end of his ten-minute speech. But from Moscow’s perspective, a good 14 months after the start of the war, it really doesn’t look like there will be a victory in the near future.