Vladimir Putin’s annual Victory Day speech meandered down a familiar path that we have seen several times over the last few months – blaming the West for trying to destroy Russia culturally, while continuing to pervert the historical record by saying that it is only Russia that has truly fought Nazism.
The narrative he is trying to push is that the “real war” is not the one Moscow started in Ukraine, but one being waged on Russia by the West using Kyiv as a proxy. So far, so predictable. But the emphasis was clearly on convincing Russians of the need to push on, and the pride the country should have in the military personnel taking part in this war, whether they are fighting on the frontlines, providing supplies, or treating the injured. The phrase “There’s nothing stronger than love for the motherland” was among Putin’s closing words.
The comparison to the Nazis is a simple – if false – one for Putin to make. The Kremlin may be concerned about losing the support of the Russian people as the invasion heads into its 15th month, with a Ukrainian counteroffensive believed to be coming very soon, but the suffering the people of the Soviet Union faced during the Second World War has been built into the national identity in the decades since by the authorities. It is a button that Putin has pushed a number of times in the last decade, since he illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, and it is an easy crutch to lean on.
