From The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

Putin's False History on Parade in Moscow

What people are saying: "In recent years, the dark episodes of Soviet history that were exposed in the late eighties have once again been buried, and Russia has restricted the official narrative of the war to an impeccable record." -Masha Lipman, The New Yorker

On Saturday, 16,000 soldiers, 200 armored vehicles, and 150 airplanes, helicopters, and jets combined to form the biggest spectacle seen in Moscow since the days of the Soviet Union.

VOC Executive Director Marion Smith, in an op-edpublished last Thursday by National Review, predicted that this "historic spectacle," which was officially to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World War, "will be the latest in a long line of cynical and systematic attempts by the Kremlin to minimize the horrors of Soviet Communism."

Sure enough, last Saturday's extravagant military parade in Moscow's Red Square appeared by all accounts to have been little more than an opportunity for the Russian president to fan the flames of national pride and expansionist jingoism.

Read the rest of Marion's op-ed.




7 Inconvenient Facts about Putin's WWII Parade 

Here are a few reasons Russians should be embarrassed by their President's latest attempt to whitewash Soviet history: 

• It highlighted Russia's growing isolation from the West: Whereas just five years ago, American, French, and British leaders came to Russia to mark the anniversary, this year Putin shared the dais with Xi Jinping, Raul Castro, and Nicolas Maduro. 
• It glorified an anti-Russian regime: Though many of the Russians gathered in Moscow likely believed they were patriotically supporting Russian nationalism, Putin’s glorification of the Soviet regime actually serves to romanticize the most brutally anti-Russian government in history.
• It showcased weapons of international terrorism: One of the many weapons systems that was on display Saturday was the SA-11 Buk missile launcher, the same weapon that shot commercial flight MH17 out of the sky in July of last year. 
• It included the symbol of the deadly Soviet regime: Nazi propaganda and symbolism is illegal in Russia, but the Soviet hammer and sickle not only isn't banned, but is displayed as a source of great national pride. 

Read the rest of the reasons over at VOC's blog, The Dissident. 

Major news outlets cover Moscow Victory Parade:

• "Ukraine War Taboo Topic at Moscow's Victory Day Parade," The Kyiv Post, May 10, 2015
• "Victory Day in Moscow," The New Yorker, May 9, 2015
• "Putin Puts on Vast Victory Day Parade in Moscow," The Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2015 [photos, videos]
• "'Immortal Regiment' Marches On: World Celebrates Victory Day," RT, May 9, 2015 [photos, videos]
• "In Pictures: Russian WW2 Victory Day Parade in Moscow," BBC, May 9, 2015
• "Russia Stages WW2 Parade as Ukraine Bristles," Reuters, May 9, 2015
• "A Parade Hailing Russia's World War II Dead and Marching Further From the West," The New York Times, May 7, 2015