RUSSIA MARKS the 65th anniversary of victory in second World War on Sunday, and the government promises impressive celebrations.
With Moscow set to play host to world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Hu Jintao, this year’s parade is expected to include an even more impressive array of weapons than usual and a number of military units from Britain, the US and France. But the holiday means different things to different people and attempts to turn it into a glorification of the Soviet era have met with strong resistance, particularly in Moscow.
Victory Day is a key holiday in Russia. Falling the week after the May Day bank holiday and at the beginning of Russian spring, many seize the opportunity for a break.
Whether that’s opening summer houses after the winter or staying in town to soak up the celebration atmosphere, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have plans for the weekend of Victory Day.
The capital is getting a serious makeover. Flowerbeds are filling up with perfect specimens and the black and orange St George’s ribbon, an increasingly popular symbol of Victory Day, hangs from car aerials, official buildings and many a Muscovite’s handbag.
The Mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, prides himself on the city authorities’ ability to seed rain clouds to ensure good weather. Despite embarrassing claims that he could prevent snow last year, before one of the snowiest Moscow winters in memory, he seems to be back on safe ground with Victory Day preparations.
In recent weeks, many shop owners across Moscow have decorated their windows with Victory Day posters. One of these is Romualda Seryezhnikova, a Lithuanian who moved here 30 years ago. She tells me she’ll be celebrating at her summer house, “And , of course, we’ll be watching the parade on TV.”
Seryezhnikova is one of many who were outraged by city plans to include Stalin posters in the parade. “I felt awful when I heard about those plans,” she says.
Despite widescale opposition and fears that it reflected an attempt to rehabilitate the dictator’s reputation, this week Moscow city authorities did put up small posters of Stalin and his generals around the city.
The Orthodox Church is also playing what many see as an incongruous role in Victory Day this year, with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, meeting with war veterans this week. Despite being raised in the officially atheist Soviet Union, the former soldiers flocked to the lavish Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which was blown up by the Soviets. Rebuilt following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was consecrated in 2000.
Some veterans revealed they had been secretly baptised in the 1920s and many referred to a partial revival of Orthodoxy during the darkest days of the war.
Victory Day does have its detractors in Russia, one of these is Gene Bogolepov, a promoter in his 20s who works in St Petersburg. A hero city of the Soviet Union, St Petersburg is also gearing up to celebrate but Gene won’t be joining in, “As for Victory Day, well, in fact I don’t ever celebrate it as such.
“I normally try to escape from the city on that day because I really hate the whole parade thing and all these drunk people on the streets,” he says.
Bogolepov admits he’s in the minority, even among people his age. Anya Zalota is a Muscovite also in her 20s, who is planning to spend Victory Day watching fireworks and going for a drink.
“When my granddad was alive we used to celebrate. We would go for a walk with him and young people would give him flowers in the street. Then we went for dinner or had lunch at home. These days we drink to it and that’s pretty much it,” she says.
Zalota says that seeing the pride and happiness of surviving veterans celebrating brings tears to her eyes. “It’s important to preserve the memory of their sacrifice and to celebrate the peace that we have now,” she adds.