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WWII ceremony shines light on post-Soviet Russia

Women wearing Soviet wartime uniforms jump down some stairs on Moscow's main street Tverskaya during a parade which was part of the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WW II, in Moscow, Sunday. Nearly 60 heads of state and government and other leading international dignitaries were due to take part in the festivities in Moscow yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The Russian capital's massive ceremonies commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany shine a spotlight on one of the Soviet Union's great successes, but they also illuminate many of the problems now plaguing post-Soviet Russia.

Amid their words of praise for the Red Army's bravery and sacrifice, officials have appeared defensive in scrabbling to preserve Russia's declining regional influence, deflect criticism of Russia's commitment to democracy and protest Western support for pro-democracy uprisings in ex-Soviet states.

Intense security measures for the Moscow ceremonies, which are crowded with foreign dignitaries, echoed the capital's fears of terror attacks by Chechen separatists, whom the Kremlin has been unable to wipe out in a decade of fighting.

With security so tight that Muscovites had little chance of seeing Monday's ceremonies firsthand, officials advised residents to get out of town, which some felt demonstrated how Russian authorities had little concern for the common man.

Soviet-era emblems and images of Josef Stalin abounded -- historically correct, but unsettling amid fears that President Vladimir Putin wants to lead the country back into heavy-handed authoritarian rule.

As Putin addressed WWII veterans at the Bolshoi Theater, he struck a defiant and defensive tone.

"Double standards with regard to terrorists are as unacceptable as attempts to rehabilitate Nazi accomplices," Putin said. The statement referred both to the Kremlin's frequent complaint that calls for Russia to negotiate with Chechen rebels are tantamount to capitulating to terrorism and to Russia's resentment of moves in some ex-Soviet Baltic countries and Ukraine to honor partisans who fought against the Red Army in WWII.

Leaders of two Baltic countries -- Estonia and Lithuania -- declined to come to Moscow for the celebrations, a demonstration of the widespread dismay over the nearly five decades of postwar Soviet occupation.

Also absent were leaders of two member nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the loose grouping of ex-Soviet republics other than the Baltics.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev declined to come to the CIS summit, reportedly because of the presence of Armenian President Robert Kocharian: tensions are high between the countries over the unresolved status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Aliev came for Monday's ceremonies, but his staying away from the summit underlined the CIS' internal tensions.

The absence of Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili was a direct slap at Russia -- he stayed home to protest Russia's resistance to withdrawing two military bases that remain in the country as Soviet-era hangovers.

Saakashvili also is preparing for a visit by US President George W. Bush, who was scheduled to go there yesterday directly from Moscow. Bush's visit to Georgia is being seen as a strong endorsement of pro-democracy movements in the former Soviet Union. Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution scored a first, dramatic victory that drove out longtime leader Eduard Shevardnadze.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who came to power after his country's Orange Revolution forced an election in which he defeated a Kremlin-backed candidate, came to Moscow for the ceremonies, but used the occasion to downplay the CIS, saying there was "little use" for the organization that Russia sees as a key element in retaining regional influence.

Russia has sharply criticized the backing that pro-democracy groups in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan received from Western countries, and apparently is concerned that those countries' uprisings could be repeated in close Russian allies, such as Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Russian Security Council chief Igor Ivanov last week criticized the uprisings as unconstitutional changes of power. That brought a cold rejection from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, which said Sunday that "the international community has highly assessed the degree of conformity of last year's presidential elections with democratic standards."

The protests in post-Soviet countries raised the prospect of similar outpourings in Russia, where Putin is under increasing criticism for apparent authoritarian leanings. The WWII ceremonies' respect for Stalin could be seen as reinforcing that tendency, and Putin himself has given mixed signals, claiming Russia is reforming but speaking with respect and even nostalgia for the Soviet Union.
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