Journalist and founder of the Window on Russia platform Laura Starink therefore thinks that there is not much to celebrate for Russians. May 9 is the most important holiday in Russia. “It’s one of the things Russians are traditionally very proud of; defeat the Nazis”.
“Bachmoth was actually the least Putin had in mind”
It stands in stark contrast to the war the Russians are engaged in in 2023: the one with Ukraine. Even the town of Bachmoet – disputed for months – is still not in Russian hands. “And that was actually the minimum goal Putin had in mind.”
Middle Russian
However, tomorrow the average Russian will be in a good mood, thinks Russia expert Tony van der Togt of the Clingendael Institute. “This runs deep in many Russian families,” he says. ‘But they will also have different expectations. In principle there is nothing to celebrate and parades have been abolished or reduced.’
There will also be no memorial marches, where Russians march through the streets with portraits of deceased relatives or ancestors. Van der Togt therefore calls it difficult to describe the average feeling of the Russian population on a holiday like tomorrow. “But you will see that it is a very different Victory Day than before.”
Storytelling
Starink calls the possible comparison that the Russian president will be able to make tomorrow between the Second World War and the war against Ukraine a “completely unexpected comparison”, and points out that Putin knows how to use that kind of disinformation. “But he fails to say that the Ukrainians – perceptually speaking – suffered the most from Nazi Germany,” he says. “So the label that’s put on it is completely out of the blue.”
But, he concludes, it is the only label still valid in Russia. “Nazi is still the worst swear word you can use in Russia,” she concludes. “The Russians are still trying to cash in on that war victory, saying they’re trying to do it again.”