Xi Jinping among the guests of the Victory Day Parade of the Second World War in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin will organize a sumptuous parade of the Second World War Victory Day in Moscow on Friday, an event that the Kremlin hopes to reach patriotism at home and project force abroad while his troops are fighting in Ukraine.

More than 20 foreign dignitaries, including the China Jinping and Robert Fico of Slovakia, should attend the annual parade this year, the fourth since Moscow launched a large -scale military assault against its neighbor in February 2022.

Managers promise that commemorations this year – the 80th anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany – will be the “biggest” of all time, Putin commanding a “humanitarian” truce with Ukraine during the holidays.

Ukraine, which rejected the truce as a farce, described Russian events as “cynicism parade” and warned that it could not guarantee the security of world leaders.

The festival will be marked by a massive parade of military equipment and soldiers through the Red Square, culminating in an address by the Russian chief.

Since sending her troops to Ukraine, Putin has often established parallels between the modern army of Russia and the Soviet soldiers who fought Nazi Germany.

During a dinner in honor of foreign leaders visiting the parade, Putin proposed a toast to “victory”.

Russia began its assault against Ukraine in February 2022, hoping to take the country a few days, but has since involved in a huge bloody conflict that killed tens of thousands.

'Dear friend' XI

Security was tight in Moscow, where the organizers prohibited participants from bringing vape pens, electric scooters or “all animals” to the victory parade.

Authorities have also blocked mobile internet connections in the capital, citing the threat of Ukrainian attacks.

Putin unilaterally ordered a three -day truce for the duration of the holidays, from Thursday, but Ukraine accused Russia of having broken it hundreds of times.

Kyiv maintains that the parade has “nothing to do with victory over Nazism” and that those who walked in the Red Square were “most likely” implicit in crimes against the Ukrainians.

The two most important guests this year are Xi Jinping in China and Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva from Brazil.

Despite Brussels's warnings, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will also assist – the only head of the European Union who participates.

Aleksandar Vucic, president of Serbia, a country with historically strong ties with Moscow, will also join.

The day before the parade, XI and Putin met in the Kremlin, where the two had talks for more than three hours.

After their meeting, Putin addressed the Chinese chief like his “dear friend”, while the two published messages of challenge to the West.

'Great Patriotic War'

The Second World War officially remembered in Russia as the “Great Patriotic War”, beginning with the surprise invasion of Germany of the Soviet Union in 1941 and ending with the capitulation of Germany in 1945.

The period between 1939 and 1941, when the Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, passed out in the official history books.

The war had a devastating impact on the Soviet Union, resulting in more than 20 million civil and military dead.

Throughout her quarter -century in power, Putin exploited this national trauma, making the most important holiday in Russia on May 9 and defending his army as defenders against fascism.

Authorities have prohibited criticism from military weeks after the start of Ukraine’s offensive and have since billed thousands of people in the greatest inner repression in post-Soviet history in Russia.

The textbooks introduced since the offensive refer to Ukraine as an “ultra-nationalist state”, comparing it to the government of the Nazi occupation which led the country between 1941 and 1944.

In a speech announcing the offensive against Ukraine, Putin said that the Russian army was aimed at “Denazifier” the country, an assertion of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky called “incomprehensible”.

(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)