The Russians remember World War II with victory in their mind

Eighty miles from Moscow, the park is repeated to the sound of explosions and shots.

As the fat gray smoke rises into the air, the Red Army storms over the bridge and fights control over the tiny island. More Soviet soldiers arrive on the boat from the lake.

Once on the island, they destroy the swastika and replace it with a hammer and a sickle -shaped Soviet Union. Victory.

A large crowd is watching the safety of the shore. What they testify is a historical reconstruction of one of the last battles for Berlin in 1945. This led to the surrender of Nazi Germany and what Moscow is still called the Great Victory.

The Battle of Berlin, which unfolds in front of me in Dubna, is one of the many events in Russia for the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Victory in World War II.

The anniversary attracts great attention in a country where the national idea is built very much around the concept of Russia as Victor and the victim.

“I’m here because my grandfather fought in this war,” one of the audience, Katya, tells me.

“He went missing next to Berlin. Much, we learned that he was killed in January 1945.”

For eighty years, Katya has been fighting in Ukraine.

“My son is now in the war. He is in a” special military operation “,” she says to me. “He voluntarily. I tried to talk to him. But he did not listen to anyone as a child.

“I am my own king,” he told me. “Go fight when you are the king,” I replied. He and his friend went together. His friend was killed. “

Katya’s family history is a story of different generations that fight the front line.

But in many different circumstances.

In 1941, Hitler Germany invaded the Soviet Union to try to conquer the world’s largest country and safe world domination. Soviet soldiers (grandfather Katya among them) fought for the liberation of his country from the Nazis. Moscow’s victory has won huge human expenses: more than 27 million Soviet citizens have been killed in the fact that it is known as the Great Patriotic War or the Great Patriotic War.

But in 2022, it was Russia who started a large -scale invasion – his neighbor. The fact that the Kremlin still calls a “special military operation” was widely seen as an attempt to force Ukraine to return to the Russian geopolitical orbit. In March 2022, the UN General Assembly mainly adopted a resolution condemning Russia’s “aggression”.

Yet the Russian authorities reflect the war in Ukraine as a continuation of World War II. The official narrative here creates a parallel reality in which Russia again fights Nazism and fascism, Ukraine and all over Europe. Russia, a country that has invaded Ukraine, is a victim of external aggression.

“Historically and sociologically, the victory in the Great Patriotic War has always been the cornerstone of the Russian united consciousness,” explains the new newspaper Andrei Kolesnikov, because there is no glue for the nation: only this event. It has always been the case since Brezhnev’s time.

“But what is happening now is something special. Now the Great Patriotic War is represented as the first step in our permanent war with the West, against” Europharom. “

In Russia, television plays a key role in distributing an official message that cannot be trusted at the time and cannot be trusted now. Recently, I saw a documentary called “Europe Against Russia. Hitler Crusaders” on Russian television. It was about how European countries cooperated with the Nazis during World War II.

Not mentioning a pact, which is not in 1939 between Hitler and Stalin: under his secret protocol, Germany and the USSR produced spheres of influence on Eastern Europe.

Last month, a Russian television presenter launched a tirade against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a supporter of Ukraine’s military support. The leading current called the German leader “Nazi is unworthy” for comment on Russia. Addressing the chancellor directly, the anchor said that the Russians “keep you and your comrades responsible for killing 27 million Soviet citizens.”

Icanography underlies ideology. In the city of Khimki, near Moscow, the recently open monument reflects the Red Army soldier near the Russian fighting in Ukraine. The designed photos of Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine were posted below two fighters.

The inscription states: “Keeping the past, we protect the future!”

War past and present: gathered in bronze.

At the time, which took place before Victory Day, Russia was overflowing with the Great Victory. Last month, the Soyuz rocket was decorated to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany, which exploded from the boycone cosmodrome.

Back to Earth, in the maternal hospital in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, newborn babies are dressed in miniature hats and capes of the Red Army.

On her telegraph channel, the hospital explained that the infant’s combat clothing served “” reminding of relations between generations, the courage of the defenders of the Fatherland, and how even the most smaller citizen of Russia is part of a great story. “

In Moscow, the Russian word for “Victory” – “Pobeda” – everywhere: on giant billboards, on posters in the windows of shops, even sticking to the sides of the roads. Underground, special “Victory trains” in the Moscow subway were carved with images of World War II and: “Be proud!” And “Remember!”

At the rehearsals for Great May 9, the Tanks rolled down the main street of Moscow, Tver. In Soviet times, after 1945, military advice on Victory Day were rare. Under Vladimir Putin, they became a key element that is now the most sacred national holiday in Russia – not only for remembering the victims of World War II, but also to demonstrate Russian military power and unification of people around the idea of ​​Russia as an unmatched nation.

The USSR really won the Great Patriotic War. But eighty years and, despite the confident speeches of Russian officials, the victory is shying away from Moscow in Ukraine. The Kremlin’s “Special Military Operation” is expected only a few days, a maximum of a few weeks. After more than three years of the war – and huge victims on both sides – it is still unclear how and when the fighting is over.

The Kremlin says 29 world leaders, including China Xi Jinping, will visit the Victory Day. According to Moscow, Serbian President Alexander Vuchich and Prime Minister Slovak Robert Fika will visit Russia to honor. Ensuring the safety of military parade and guests on the Red Square will already be the main priority for the Kremlin. Moreover, after two consecutive Ukrainian attacks, drones aimed at Moscow.

Returning to Dubna, the German resistance crumbled, and the Red Army is in full control. The reaction is over.

Some of the spectators believe that Russia’s official reflection as a besieged fortress threatens the West.

“Britain and America betrayed us and threatened us,” Lydia tells me. “But we are stable. You can’t defeat Russia.”

When I talk to 98-year-old Fiodor Melnikov, he is not engaged in politics. The military show provoked excruciating memories for him. Fiodor’s brother was killed in the Great Patriotic War.

“War is a terrible thing,” Fidiodor tells me. “People need to be allowed to live freely. Let them work, let them live their lives, let them die naturally.”

Fiodor wrote a poem about his deceased about the war. He reads this to me. In translation it sounds like:

“Uniform I never wore

The battle I have never seen.

But in my mind I see

My brother goes to war.

The only thing he told me

Before he left, he was:

“Live, younger brother, be fine.”

I will win home. “

On Friday, together with all Russia, Fiodor Melnikov will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory of 1945.

But it will be a day for memories: friends and family who have never returned.

Day for recognition of the cost of war.