Archives » Wednesday, January 16, 2008
-
Owen Matthews
|
Jan 16, 2008 09:29 AM
Three signs of the times, all reflecting a different aspect of the
bluster and Soviet nostalgia that have become some of the most alarming
aspects of the Putin regime. The first is an announcement by Russia’s
Defense Ministry that for the first time since 1990, army tanks and
nuclear missiles will be part of the traditional May 9 Victory Day
parade on Red Square commemorating the Soviet (rather than Allied)
victory in World War II. Military parades in Red Square, reviewed by
the country’s leaders standing on the Lenin mausoleum, were of course
an iconic image of the late Soviet era -- the goose-stepping soldiers
and the rumbling tanks a very visible boast of USSR military power.
There were no parades at all between 1991 and 1994, after the Soviet
Union collapsed, but they were revived by Yeltsin in 1995 to
commemorate -- with Bill Clinton at his side -- the fiftieth
anniversary of what the Defense Ministry’s press release tellingly
calls “Russia’s victory in the WW2.” This year, in keeping with Putin’s
dreams of reviving Russia’s power and glory, the parade will be back to
something close to the full-scale military pageants of Soviet days.
According to Moscow Military District Commander Vladimir Bakin,
Russia’s newest generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the
Topol-M, will be making an appearance alongside tanks, armored
personnel carriers and 6,000 officers and soldiers in newly designed
uniforms.
More
Loading Menu