Eight years ago, Vladimir Putin gave the traditional Victory Day speech in Red Square in Moscow before flying to Crimea to celebrate its annexation. After rousing Russian patriotic anthems, the event ended with parts of the crowd in Sevastopol belting out “Back in the USSR”.
As the invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, with missile and artillery strikes on Kyiv and armour surging towards the city, there were claims that President Putin would mark this year’s Victory Day in the Ukrainian capital which, it was assumed, would fall in the face of such overwhelming might.
