May 9 was to have been celebrated in grand fashion in Russia as Victory Day – the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany. As noted in a news analysis by Pavel Felgenhauer, writing for Eurasia Daily Monitor, “The anniversary celebrations of victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945, which ended World War II in Europe, have become the main yearly public relations event in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.” And this year’s observance of the anniversary was to be the main state event of the year, the analyst pointed out, “bigger than any such commemorations to date.”
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The Ukrainian Weekly: Putin’s Victory Day
Russian troops march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Red Square in Moscow, on May 7, 2019.
