Children in military uniforms, toddlers in cardboard tanks, marching in primary school baby lockstap. On May 9, young Russians in other cities, beyond the large military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, have already started celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany.In the city of Kemerovo, South -Western Siberia, newborns were designed as soldiers in a maternity house, with a small field cap on their heads, and wrapped in a green sleeping bag of olives. On its website, the establishment asks citizens to join, reminding users that Russia’s smallest citizen is also part of history and suggests that clothes symbolize “relations between generations”.Meanwhile, hundreds of kindergarten children participated in a “military parade”, which included homemade military vehicles and airplanes in a residential district of Russian city between Voronies.In Vladivostoc, in the Far East of Russia, more than 1,500 “great-grandchmen” marched through the city center, in which the Governor of Primori region, Oleg Kozemako, described as “the first children’s parade”. He announced that some of the columns had participated in the war in Ukraine: “Today, there are children whose father is fighting on the front marching in the columns. We are proud of the courage and bravery of our fighters, and are certain that the enemy will be defeated, as it was in the distant year of 1945.”Victory Day has become ‘a means of mobilization’For 80 years, many Russian families mainly linked the “Victory Day”, recalling the loss and destruction of World War II. But he is now shifting. Alexi Yusupov, a Russian political scientist at the Frederick Ebert Foundation, told DW that fast, the state was contributing Victory Day to shape a new identity and ideology on 9 May. He explained that in the last two decades, Kremlin had “learned to military, or activated it, as it has been engraved in the collective memory of many Russians, which is something as a united thing to the country. It has become a means of gathering for governance.”Kremlin used some special dates, he said, such as the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat, to draw historical similarities between the Soviet Union and today’s Russia, and to demonstrate the strength and validity of the current regime.According to Ilya Greshchenkov from Moscow-based Regional Policy Development Center, Victory Day is important not only for Russian families, but for the Russian government. “In the last 20 years, the state has done everything that can be an integral part of this memory. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, victory in World War II is a stable, on which the entire Russian state is based, and in which he is a part of the President.,But he said that for millions of common people, May 9 remained an anniversary, which brought “tears in his eyes”. He said that for many years after 1945, May 9 was a day of mourning without a military parade. The military parade is ‘fantastic’ in the time of warSelf-reliant Russian political scientist and former Putin speech writer Abbas Galimov told DW that he felt a parade in Moscow on 9 May, at one time when Russia was in war with Ukraine, would be “luxurious”. He argued that such a parade “was a replacement for war that is necessary in the time of peace when the army is not fighting, but wants to show itself.” He said that in view of the fact that the Russian Army had not yet achieved its main goals in the last three years, the parade would emerge as “not being serious.,“Before 2022, everyone thought that Russia was much stronger than Ukraine. But it turns out that it was not so. No one can call it a high quality behavior of war, “he said. Grashchenkov hopes that on this 9 May, similarities will be prepared with war in Ukraine, as in Vladivostok in the “First Children Parade”, but they will not play a major role. Instead, he said that for Putin, it was important that the monument was “as international”. He said that foreign guests would be involved to mark the historic victory of 1945: “Victory Day is the message that Russia paid a lot of price for peace in Europe.Putin will definitely project the 1945 victory in today’s battle in Ukraine. But he will not give a lot of emphasis on it. ,Galimov said that the parade was “a universal means” for the outside world and for the Russian society: “The campaigners would say that they are ending the magnificent traditions of the 1945 victory heroes. But the Russian society will not be influenced by these stories.” He said that the similarities that were being drawn were very deprived, and it was very clear that the comparison was not really in favor of the Kremlin: “In the last three years, the Russians have not even taken full control of the areas that they claim, let’s managed to catch the Kiev alone.,However, he said that the elite people of Moscow would be in a mood for victory on 9 May. “We will see a lot of shows,” said Yusupov. “We will hear a lot of statements. We will watch a lot of television programs.” He said that Kremlin will try his best to prove that today’s Russia is the same “Good for Good” which it was 80 years ago.
