Thousands of Russian troops marched through Red Square yesterday as Moscow put on a powerful show of patriotism and military might following its annexation of Crimea.
As Ukraine’s crisis rumbled on with pro-Moscow rebels pushing ahead with independence votes, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Russian patriotism and loyalty to the state.
“This is a holiday when all-conquering patriotic force triumphs, when we all feel especially strongly what it means to be true to the motherland and how important it is to be able to stand up for its interests,” Putin told massed troops to shouts of “Hurrah! Hurrah!”
Photo: EPA
Russia’s annual parade celebrating victory over the Nazis held special resonance this year amid the crisis in Ukraine, which has seen Russia annex Crimea and fighting in pro-Moscow areas in the east where separatists are threatening to break away.
Similar Victory Day celebrations were planned for later in the day in Sevastopol, with Russian media reporting that Putin could make a triumphant appearance at the Crimean port.
As dozens of helicopters and planes soared in the bright blue sky over Moscow, thousands of troops marched alongside tanks, mobile missile systems and armored vehicles to the sound of a brass band.
In contrast to the display of military hardware on Red Square, Ukraine planned muted Victory Day celebrations in a bid to avoid violence.
The head of Kiev’s city council banned large-scale public gatherings or parades in the capital, fearing that the veterans could be attacked by “Russian provocateurs.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he fears recent softer comments from Putin are a prelude to provocation.
“I am concerned about Vladimir Putin’s statement. It caused a bad feeling. They say one thing and do another. After this statement, I asked law enforcement officers to strengthen security measures on May 9,” Yatsenyuk told Ukrainian television.
The Kremlin press service said Putin flew to Crimea after presiding over the Victory Day parade in Moscow.
It was his first trip to Crimea since Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March, and is a visit that is likely to anger the Ukrainian leadership and upset the West.
He was expected to attend a military parade and other war anniversary events in Crimea.
This year is also the 70th anniversary of the battle in which the Red Army won back control of the Black Sea peninsula from the Nazis.
Putin is sure to receive a hero’s welcome in the port city of Sevastopol, where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based, but Western leaders do not recognize the March 21 annexation of Crimea.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel Merkel said earlier this week that although May 9 was an important date in Russia, the conflict in Ukraine made a parade in Crimea inappropriate.
The crisis in Ukraine, which began after the ouster of the country’s pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych in February, has sunk Russia’s relations with the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.
The violence has prompted many Western politicians to warn that the country of 46 million people is slipping towards a civil war that would flow beyond its borders and imperil peace in Europe.
The Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany has long been a source of great pride throughout the ex-USSR, which lost about 30 million citizens during World War II.
Fueling tensions is the hugely controversial legacy of the nationalist movement in western Ukraine, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and whose Ukrainian Insurgent Army collaborated with Nazi Germany.
Animosity between the two Slavic nations has reached such levels that Ukraine decided to drop the black-and-orange Saint George ribbon, which Russians cherish as a symbol of Victory Day, instead adopting the red poppy as its symbol of remembrance.
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