Impeccably straight columns of soldiers will march through Red Square on Monday as they do every year on Victory Day. Tanks, armored personnel carriers and transports carrying huge intercontinental ballistic missiles will rattle across the paving stones. But this year’s observance of Russia’s most important patriotic holiday carries exceptional weight.
The annual show in Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany has become so ritualized that one year’s parade is barely distinguishable from others. A previously unseen piece of equipment might appear; the medal-festooned World War II veterans in the viewing stands become frailer and fewer in number each year. Its predictability can dilute its emotional power.
