Russia marks the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on Friday (9), with a military parade with the presence of Chinese Xi Jinping, which Moscow fears that Ukraine tries to interrupt after three years of devastating war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin’s longest boss since Josef Stalin, will speak at a parade at 4am (Brasília time), where thousands of Russian soldiers normally march and conduct military equipment such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and tanks, passing through Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square.
But the Ukraine War, the deadliest in Europe since World War II, haunts this celebration. Ukraine attacked Moscow with drones for several days this week, and Moscow and Kiev accused themselves to break a 72-hour ceasefire declared by Putin.
Kremlin says that the presence of Russian allies such as Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and several dozen leaders of former Soviet union, Africa, Asia and Latin America shows that Russia is not isolated from the world in general, even though the former Western Allies of Moscow from World War II want to stay away. From Europe, the leaders of Serbia and Slovakia will be present.
“The victory over fascism, achieved at the expense of huge sacrifices, has an eternal meaning,” Putin A Xi in Kremlin said. “The numerous sacrifices made by our two peoples should never be forgotten.”
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War II, including many million in Ukraine, but pushed the Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red flag of the Soviet victory was erected over the Reichstag in 1945.
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For the Russians – and for many of the people of the former Soviet Union – May 9 is the most sacred date on the calendar, and Putin, annoyed by what he claims to be attempts from the West to belittle the Soviet victory, sought to use the memories of World War II to unite Russian society.
Chinese Communist Party historians say that China’s casualties in the sino-japanese second war of 1937-1945 were 35 million. The Japanese occupation caused about 100 million Chinese and significant economic difficulties, as well as the terrible Nanjing massacre of 1937, during which about 100,000 to 300,000 victims were killed.
Moscow and Kiev do not publish accurate numbers of victims of war in Ukraine, although US President Donald Trump, who says he wants peace, states that hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides have been killed and injured.
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Stop in Moscow
Putin has sought to isolate Moscow from the War of Artillery and Drones being fought 600 km away in Ukraine, although Ukrainian drone attacks have, in recent days, suspended flights to the Russian capital.
Kremlin said the military is doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the parade alongside Kremlin, which, according to Russia, was the target of Ukrainian drones in 2023.
Security is very rigid in Moscow. Putin proposed a 72-hour ceasefire for May 8, 9 and 10, although Ukraine said Russia had broken the ceasefire, an allegation considered absurd by Moscow.
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Kremlin said military units from 13 countries, including China, will participate in the parade along with Russian troops, although it was not clear as – would be represented.
In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the allies to help him resist Russia, who now controls about one fifth from Ukraine.
“Evil cannot be appeased. It must be fought,” said Zelensky, according to the Kiev Post. He criticized the Moscow Victory Day parade. “It will be a parade of cynicism. There is no other way to describe it. A bile parade and lies.”
