Putin bluffs on Victory Day as just one tank rolls through red square and Black Sea Fleet ‘hides’

Putin bluffs on Victory Day as just one tank rolls through red square and Black Sea Fleet ‘hides’

Russia celebrates Victory Day on the 9th of May each year it’s a celebration of the country’s victory over the Nazis during World War 2 it’s normally a day for Vladimir Putin to flex his military capabilities and Firepower but this year looked a little bit different more than two years into the war in Ukraine Russia only had one tank on display it was an accompanied by some mobile rocket launchers but previous years have seen entire divisions of tank and many more armored vehicles nevertheless Vladimir Putin used his Victory Day speech aimed as much at a foreign audience as a domestic one to try and warn Russia’s combat forces were always ready but he did admit the country was going through a difficult period now the day is an integral part of Russia’s identity and on the 79th anniversary thousands of servicemen paraded through moscow’s Red Square they served as a reminder of the role that the Soviet Union along with their allies played in the second world war the Soviet Union lost about 27 million people in the war almost every family was affected Times columnist and Russia expert Edward Lucas explained why this day is still so significant for Russians most important sort of secular event in the Russian calendar it’s the really big day because it was the really big day in Soviet history it’s the day when uh they celebrated the defeat defeat of Nazi Germany which was really the sort of more important I think for the Soviet Union than even the uh Russian Revolution it’s the rather like the Battle of Britain and D-Day for us it’s the time they look back on with um real pride and it’s coming as you say it’s a very difficult time and there were a couple of things I noticed one was that there were some troops in the Central African Republic there and that’s one of the few things that’s really going well for Putin is his um Advance into Africa rolling up what had been French or American Allies or client states there and installing regimes with the help of Russian mercenaries who are um giving Russia a footprint in Africa that it hasn’t had since the days of the Cold War on top of this Putin now uses this anniversary as a justification for his move on Ukraine in his speech he hailed the Russian troops fighting Ukraine for their courage and blasted the West accusing it of fueling Regional conflicts Russia will do everything to prevent a global conflict but at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us our strategic forces are always in combat Readiness Putin has just begun his fifth term as president at a time where tensions between the west and Russia are at their highest level since the Cold War why well it’s down to the war in Ukraine since first coming into power at the end of 1999 Putin has made the of May an important part of his political agenda he’s frequently spoken about his personal ties to World War II and the part his father played in fighting the Nazis on the front line for several years Putin carried a photo of his father to the parade and he’s Incorporated some of this narrative into his justification for the war in Ukraine when he first sent his troops into the country on February the 24th 2022 some of this justification came by falsely describing the Ukrainian government as neo-nazis Russia now currently controls about 18% of Ukraine including Crimea and parts of four regions in eastern Ukraine Russia claims that these regions which were once part of the Russian Empire are now again part of Russia however what way will the war go many think it’s not looking favorable for Russia I think there’s still a a a good chance that Russia loses and Ukraine wins um despite the very difficult conditions on the land Battlefield in the Northeast um in the end the West European Union Britain and America and the other allies are much bigger and stronger than Russia Russia’s got an economy about the size of Italy and although they’re willing to devote a great deal more of their economy to fighting this war than than we do we are a great deal bigger the West is 20 trillion dollar GDP and Russia’s I think about 1 1.6 last time I looked and so so I think that if the West gets its act together things look pretty pretty bleak for Putin um but we’re not there yet um the Americans have voted the money for the much needed supplies of ammunition and air defenses and longrange precision strikes um the these are having an effect um you the Russians are suffering serious problems with their um fuel supply um because the ukrainians have been hitting oil refineries um Logistics is always the weak point in the Russian uh military set up and there’s a they’re putting increasing pressure on Crimea and of course the also the Russian Black Sea Fleet which used to own the Black Sea basically is now hiding in one corner of it because it’s afraid of being sunk by Ukrainian drones so I think this is a long war and it’s I think if we get through this year in a kind of stalemate um there’s a chance um of Ukraine doing quite well um next year but there’s also a chance that Russia makes a breakthrough and takes a a lot of a lot of Ukrainian territory the the diff diff position on the front line is is is really difficult but two years on tensions only seem to be rising between Russia and the West just recently the US President Joe Biden signed off a61 billion Aid package to Ukraine the UK also said that Ukraine had the right to strike Russia with British weapons and as forces dwindle the French President Emanuel macron has so far refused to rule out sending French troops to fight Russian forces how has Russia responded well of course it has seen these as a threat and has recently announced it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of military exercise so it might not come as a surprise that a nuclear missile launcher was on display during the parade another reminder of Russia’s nuclear might however Putin said Russia would do everything it could to avoid a global confrontation but it would not allow anyone to to threaten it leaders from countries like bellarus Cuba and Kazakhstan came to watch the 79th anniversary parade but there were no leaders from the West a contrast to how this may have looked 79 years ago where once allies are now viewed as enemies e e

Today, Vladimir Putin marked Russia’s Victory Day with a pared down affair, with just one tank on display.

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