As Moscow preps for Victory Day, Russians riled by West’s boycott

In Russia, the annual May 9 celebration of Victory Day is always an intensely emotional occasion. And this year, as Russia marks the 70th anniversary of the former USSR’s victory over Nazi Germany, will be its biggest ever. Yet this year’s parade will be starkly different from many previous ones, because Western leaders are overwhelmingly boycotting it to express their anger over Russian intervention in next door Ukraine. Experts say the headcount on Red Square’s reviewing stand is symbolic of a much deeper geopolitical shift that’s been gathering pace over the past crisis-ridden year, as Russia turns away from the West pivots toward a less critical and economically welcoming Asia.

This Western boycott is not unexpected, but it is deeply offensive to Russians. Not just the leadership, but regular people who regard this as a sacred holiday.

Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the independent Center for Political Technologies in Moscow

The key message of Russia’s V-Day parade, as it is every year, is not merely to remind the world of the titanic land war against Nazi Germany that the USSR played a disproportionate role in winning, but also to display Russia’s ongoing military readiness. This year, amid the rift with the West and competing war games on Russia’s borders with NATO, that point will be stressed more loudly than ever. Many of the results of Russia’s massive rearmament program will be on full display, many for the first time, and the message will be noted.

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