Ukraine war shadows Victory Day, Russia’s integral holiday
- Moscow prepares for its cherished Victory Day holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945
- In neighbouring Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia will be defeated ‘as Nazism was’
Russia launched its biggest wave of drone strikes on Ukraine for months on Monday, escalating attacks in the run-up to its May 9 Victory Day holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany, which Kyiv marked a day earlier in a new break with Moscow.
Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday, lauds two tenets that are central to the country’s identity: military might and moral rectitude. But the war in Ukraine undermines both this year.
The holiday falling on Tuesday marks the 78th anniversary of Germany’s capitulation in World War II after a relentless Red Army offensive pushed German forces from Stalingrad, deep inside Russia, all the way to Berlin, about 2,200km (1,300 miles).
The Soviet Union lost at least 20 million people in the war; the suffering and valour that went into the German defeat have been touchstones ever since.
However, many regions have cancelled their May 9 observances because of concerns the events could be targets for Ukrainian attacks.