From Red Square to Ukraine: Putin Casts Modern War as Echo of 1945

By Kamaran Aziz 

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Amid the roar of armored vehicles and the solemn spectacle of marching soldiers, Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow with a sweeping address that fused historical reverence with contemporary geopolitical messaging. 

Against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s most extravagant military parade in years, Putin sought not only to honor the memory of the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany but to frame Russia’s war in Ukraine as a modern continuation of that struggle.

As reported by The Washington Post, Putin used the May 9 event to declare Russia as an “indestructible barrier to Nazism, Russophobia, and antisemitism,” explicitly linking the country’s ongoing “special military operation” in Ukraine to the Soviet Union’s World War II legacy. 

“Truth and justice are on our side,” he proclaimed before an audience that included nearly 30 world leaders—among them Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—underscoring what Moscow sees as growing international validation amid Western efforts to isolate it.

The Victory Day parade, as detailed by The New York Times, was the largest since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Featuring over 130 pieces of military hardware, including Iskander ballistic missiles, Tornado-S rocket systems, and Yars intercontinental nuclear-capable missiles, the Kremlin presented a formidable image of military might despite growing signs of economic strain and battlefield stagnation.

Putin’s address largely avoided direct condemnation of the West, a notable shift from his more combative tone in previous years. However, as reported by The Moscow Times, his references to efforts to “slander the real winners” of WWII appeared directed at critics—including Ukrainian officials and U.S. President Donald Trump—who have questioned Moscow’s historical narratives.

In a symbolic nod to the international nature of the Soviet victory, Putin highlighted the contributions of Allied forces and praised China’s role in defeating Japanese militarism. “We’ll always remember that opening the second front brought victory closer,” he said, aligning himself with Xi and reinforcing a narrative of a multipolar world order.

Yet beneath the grandeur, as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported, Russia’s domestic and diplomatic vulnerabilities remain stark. Its economy is burdened by falling oil revenues, rising inflation, and a deepening budget deficit. 

Prices for Brent crude have dropped to $62 per barrel—well below Russia’s forecasted benchmark—forcing the government to either drain reserves or print more money, a scenario likely to exacerbate the current 10% inflation rate.

Despite these headwinds, Putin continues to portray resilience as Russia’s most potent asset. “Victory will not go to the side that is the best, but to the one that remains standing the longest,” noted Russian economist Alexander Kolyandr in The New York Times, echoing the Kremlin’s belief in endurance over rapid success.

Putin also used the occasion to elevate returning soldiers from the Ukraine front as national heroes and pillars of a new political class. As The Wall Street Journal reported, veterans like Maj. Amyr Argamakov have been appointed to government positions and celebrated in state media as the embodiment of loyalty and patriotism. “Politics was never my goal,” Argamakov said, “but I have a sense that I must be of use to my nation.”

These efforts form part of a broader Kremlin initiative known as “Time of Heroes,” which grooms veterans for leadership roles, contrasting them with the corrupt oligarchic class of the 1990s. This strategy also serves to preempt political unrest by integrating potentially disillusioned ex-soldiers into the state apparatus.

Yet, while parading strength, Russia’s military advances in Ukraine have slowed. According to the Finnish-based Black Bird Group, Russian forces have seized an average of just 2.5 square miles per day over the past three months—a rate that would take years to secure territories it claims to annex. Meanwhile, Ukrainian casualties remain high, and Russia continues to demand sweeping concessions, including Kyiv’s demilitarization and the barring of Western arms, before agreeing to any ceasefire.

On the diplomatic front, Putin’s Victory Day performance is also a message to Washington. As noted by The Washington Post, Trump’s administration has pushed Ukraine toward negotiation, floating concessions such as NATO exclusion and recognition of Russian control over Crimea. 

Yet Trump’s recent tone has hardened after Russian airstrikes killed civilians in Kyiv. “Maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, signaling potential re-imposition of sanctions.

Despite Trump’s ambivalent stance, analysts like Alexander Gabuev of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center argue that Russia’s fundamental posture toward the West remains confrontational. “Putin has made confrontation with the West the organizing principle of Russian life,” Gabuev wrote in Foreign Affairs.

Still, Russia’s propaganda machinery remains highly effective in shaping domestic sentiment. As Levada Center director Denis Volkov told The New York Times, despite economic difficulties, most Russians report feeling economically stable or even better off, thanks in part to subsidies and rising wages in war-related industries.

Security in Moscow was visibly tight, following a series of Ukrainian drone strikes earlier in the week that disrupted air traffic and prompted mobile internet blackouts near Red Square. Victory Day events elsewhere in Russia were similarly affected. 

According to The Moscow Times, restaurants and stores near the parade route were ordered to close, and drone strikes were reported in Belgorod moments before commemorations began.

Putin’s message to the Russian public and the international community was clear: the legacy of the Soviet victory is alive, and Russia will persevere in its current struggle with the same determination. “We are proud of their courage and determination,” he said of the current Russian soldiers. “Russia will remain an invincible defender.”

For a president now in his 25th year in power, Victory Day has once again served as both a stage and a symbol—a reminder of a glorious past and a defiant assertion of Russia’s future path.