Putin’s speech on Red Square on the occasion of the May 9 “Victory Day” celebrations did not mention Ukraine or Ukrainians even once. Donbas and the term “our territories” was repeated multiple times, but the name of the country that Russia is currently invading – supposedly in an effort to rid it of “neo-Nazis” – remained unspoken. Reality retouched. Unsaid and therefore non-existent.
Apparently, the present can be retouched as effectively as the past. Multiple generations of Soviet citizens were indoctrinated with a narrative of World War II that ended with the famous photograph “Yegorov and Kantariya Raise the Flag over the Reichstag.” For decades, this image was presented as an authentic portrayal of valiant Red Army warriors announcing their triumph over the Nazis in the very heart of Germany. In fact, like many Soviet representations of the past – and their Kremlin regurgitations in the present – history was faked, retouched, and its Ukrainian connection removed.
The photograph was taken by Yevhen Khaldey, a native of Donetsk (formerly Stalino) who shot several versions on the roof of the Reichstag on 2 May 1945, several days after street fighting in Berlin had ended. In the original version, the Russian officer steadying the soldier with the flag was caught wearing two wristwatches which had obviously been looted from Germans during the Red Army’s advance. Apparently, nothing changes in Russian military practices: stealing “souvenirs” from conquest is considered normal: be it in Berlin, Bucha or Borodyanka…
The image with two wristwatches was retouched by the photographer in the final print version of the widely reproduced image. Khaldey also “burned in” smoke into the background of the print in order to add emotional fervor: according to official narrative, the Soviet flag should have been raised in the thick of valiant battle.
In fact, this was a lie. Other photos taken that day by Khaldey from the roof of the German legislature show no background smoke. The street battles in Berlin were over by the time the photo session was organized.
The identity of the soldier holding the flag was also faked. Apparently, when the doctored photograph was shown to Stalin, the dictator asked who the two central figures were. When told that the officer was Russian and the soldier with the flag Ukrainian, Stalin was said to have emphatically underscored that there were no Ukrainians on the roof of the Reichstag on victory day.
For Stalin, and for Putin seven decades later, Soviet “victory” was to be Russia’s victory.
During his speech on Red Square today, the Russian President emphasized the “multi-national” composition of the Russian Federation, the valor of Russians and their multiple allies in World War II in the war against Nazism. He tried to draw parallels between yesterday and today.
There are three obvious problems with this narrative.
First, today (unlike in WWII when the US equipped the Red Army through “Lend-Lease”) Russia stands alone in its war against Ukraine. In the present, the Soviet Union’s former allies are siding without exception with Russia’s enemy and victim. Not much valor in that, but the Kremlin doesn’t seem to notice.
Second, Russia’s enemy (Ukraine – the country that Putin does not mention) has done nothing that even approaches the horrific atrocities of the Nazis against whom the Kremlin supposedly rails; it has not attacked Russia, nor does Ukraine pose any threat to Russia or Russians. Nevertheless, Putin frames the current war as a repetition of Russia’s supposedly “victorious” confrontation with the Nazis over seven decades ago.
Thirdly, equating “Soviet” with “Russian” in the context of World War II twists reality, and represents a deliberate fabrication aimed at de-humanizing Ukrainians to justify the Kremlin’s current aggression. Between 5 and 7 million inhabitants of Ukraine lost their lives during the Nazi occupation of their land. Ukrainians made up the vast majority of Red Army troops who liberated Ukraine from the Germans in 1943-45.
Putin’s narrative is fake – both yesterday and today. It reflects a long history of fabrication emanating from the Kremlin. It serves to justify that which cannot be justified: the eradication of an inconvenient people who persistently claim their own identity – one that is different from Russia.
The parallels between Putin’s denial of the existence of Ukraine as a separate nation, and Hitler’s repudiation of the rights to life of Jews are more than obvious. What is less obvious is that Putin is continuing a long-standing tradition of manufactured narrative commenced and perpetrated by Stalin.
If there is anything meaningful that is to come of this war, it should be an assertion to never again allow the negation of truth. But then we’ve heard “never again” many times before…
