Red Soviet flags and orange and black striped military ribbons are displayed in Russian cities and towns. Neighborhoods are hosting holiday concerts. Veterans groups lay flowers at monuments to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in the country.
At first glance, the preparations for Monday’s Victory Day celebration, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, appear to be business as usual.
But the mood this year is very different, because Russian troops are fighting and dying again.
And this battle, now in its eleventh week, is taking place in neighboring Ukraine, against what the government has falsely called a campaign against “Nazis.”
The pride and patriotism usually associated with Russia’s most important holiday, marked by a grand parade of soldiers and military equipment through Red Square, is mixed with apprehension and trepidation about what this Victory Day may bring. anus.
Some Russians fear that President Vladimir Putin will use it to declare that what the Kremlin previously called a “special military operation” in Ukraine will now be a full-fledged war, bringing with it a vast mobilization of troops to bolster Russia’s forces. .
“I don’t recall a time when the May 9 holiday was so eagerly anticipated,” historian Ivan Kurilla wrote on Facebook.
Ukraine’s intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said Moscow was covertly preparing such a plan. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told LBC Radio that Putin was “preparing the ground to be able to say: ‘Look, now it’s a war against the Nazis, and what I need is more people.'”
The Kremlin denied having any such plans, calling the reports “false” and “nonsense.”
Asked Friday by The Associated Press if rumors of mobilization could cloud the mood of Victory Day, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “nothing will cast a shadow” on the “holy day, the most important day” for Russians. .
Still, human rights groups reported an increase in calls from people asking about laws related to mobilization and their rights if ordered to join the military.
“Questions about who can be called and how have begun to flow on a large scale through our conscript and military rights hotline,” Pavel Chikov, founder of legal aid group Agora, said on the app. Telegram messenger.
Russian state television has stepped up patriotic rhetoric. Announcing the military operation on February 24, Putin stated that it was aimed at the “demilitarization” of Ukraine in order to remove a perceived military threat to Russia from “neo-Nazis.”
A recent TV commentary said Putin’s words were “not an abstract thing or a slogan” and praised Russia’s success in Ukraine, even though Moscow’s troops have stalled, making only minor gains in recent weeks.
Ukraine, which has a democratically elected Jewish president who lost family members in the Holocaust, and the West have condemned the comments as a bogus cover for a forceful act of aggression.
But many Russians fed a steady diet of official narrative have cheered their troops on, comparing them to “our grandfathers” who fought the Germans.
Popular support in Russia for the war in Ukraine is difficult to gauge in a country that has seen a steady crackdown on journalists in recent years, with the closure of independent media outlets and state-controlled television providing a widespread influence.
A recent poll by the respected independent Levada Center found that 82% of Russians remain concerned about the military campaign in Ukraine. The vast majority of them, 47%, are concerned about the deaths of Russian civilians and soldiers in the war, along with the devastation and suffering. Only 6% of those concerned about the war said they were bothered by the alleged presence of “Nazis” and “fascists” in Ukraine.
“A significant part of the population is horrified, and even those who support the war are in a permanent militant psychological state of perpetual nightmare,” political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov said in a recent commentary.
A government campaign encouraging support for the armed forces is using St. George’s distinctive black and orange ribbon traditionally associated with Victory Day. The letter “Z” has become a symbol of the conflict, decorating buildings, posters, and billboards across Russia, and many of its forms use the colors and pattern of the ribbon.
Rallies in support of the troops have been held at World War II memorials in recent days, with participants singing war songs from the 1940s.
An official suggested that Victory Day protesters display photos of soldiers now fighting in Ukraine. Normally on the holiday, Russians carry portraits of their relatives who participated in World War II to honor members of the so-called “Immortal Regiment” from a conflict in which the Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people.
—-
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Reference-apnews.com