Why is Russia’s Victory Parade meaningless?

PERRYSCOPE

Perry Diaz

RUSSIA CELEBRATED HER MAY 9, 2022 Victory Parade with pomp and circumstance but it lacked meaning amidst President Vladimir Putin’s disastrous Ukraine invasion.  
    While it was originally planned to celebrate Putin’s victory in Ukraine, it remained a hollow and wishful dream that never saw the light of day.  Ukraine until now remains strong and the Ukrainians remain determined to protect their beloved country.
     Instead Putin used the occasion in celebration of the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II to urge Russian troops to continue fighting in Ukraine.  He likened Ukrainians to Nazis and he blames the U.S. and the West for his invasion of Ukraine.  He even said that the reason why he invaded Ukraine was because Ukraine was planning to invade Russia.  But that was different from what he had been saying before – that he ordered the invasion of Ukraine because NATO was planning to invade Russia.
    In his speech, he began by saying, “The defense of our Motherland when its destiny was at stake has always been sacred. It was the feeling of true patriotism that Minin and Pozharsky’s militia stood up for the Fatherland, soldiers went on the offensive at the Borodino Field and fought the enemy outside Moscow and Leningrad, Kiev and Minsk, Stalingrad and Kursk, Sevastopol and Kharkov.
    “Today, as in the past, you are fighting for our people in Donbass, for the security of our Motherland, for Russia.
    “We take pride in the unconquered courageous generation of the victors, we are proud of being their successors, and it is our duty to preserve the memory of those who defeated Nazism and entrusted us with being vigilant and doing everything to thwart the horror of another global war.
    “Therefore, despite all controversies in international relations, Russia has always advocated the establishment of an equal and indivisible security system which is critically needed for the entire international community.
    “Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take account of each other’s interests. All in vain. NATO countries did not want to heed us, which means they had totally different plans. And we saw it.
    “Another punitive operation in Donbass, an invasion of our historic lands, including Crimea, was openly in the making. Kiev declared that it could attain nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc launched an active military build-up on the territories adjacent to us.”
Ukraine invasion
It was a lie.  Ukraine never desired to attain nuclear weapons.  As a matter of fact, Ukraine’s huge stockpile of more than 1,900 nuclear weapons that she inherited when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, were given back to Russia a result of the Budapest Memorandum, signed by the U.S., the U.K., and Russia, which provided security guarantees that Ukraine will keep her sovereignty and territorial integrity.  Well, Russia broke that security guarantee when she invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. 
    Putin then claimed that NATO began building military infrastructure, hundreds of foreign advisors started working, and regular supplies of cutting-edge weapons were being delivered to Ukraine from NATO countries.  Just to set the record straight, NATO started delivering weapons to Ukraine when the threat of invasion was imminent.
    And here comes the funny part of his speech: “We are aware that US veterans who wanted to come to the parade in Moscow were actually forbidden to do so. But I want them to know: We are proud of your deeds and your contribution to our common Victory.”
    But what made him think that patriotic American veterans wanted to participate in his Victory Parade?  Has he gone crazy?
 Then he went on to say: “Today, our warriors of different ethnicities are fighting together, shielding each other from bullets and shrapnel like brothers.  This is where the power of Russia lies, a great invincible power of our united multi-ethnic nation.”
    Jews happen to be a big component of Russia’s “multi-ethnic nation.”  A rift between Russia and Israel deepened when Moscow claimed that the Israel government is supporting what it called a “neo-Nazi” regime in Kyiv, Ukraine.  And tensions sparked when Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister claimed that Adolf Hitler was himself part Jewish.  The comment did not bode well in Israel, who has managed to stay neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war.
    With the war in Ukraine now in its third month, there is no sight of it ending soon.  As a matter of fact, it is dragging on endlessly with Putin doubling down.  And now, even Sweden and Finland who have traditionally stayed neutral in world affairs are being dragged into the East-West rivalry due to the two Nordic countries’ apprehension that they would be next on Putin’s sight to invade. 
    Recently, they indicated their willingness to join the NATO alliance, which infuriated Putin, who then threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in the Baltic region.
Threaten neighbors
What’s in Putin’s mind that he’s threatening his neighbors?  Does he have grandiose dreams of reviving the Soviet Empire?  If he does, he needs to know that the international community is coalescing against him.  He is now being treated as an international pariah.
    Take into account that his health doesn’t appear to be so good.  His irrationality and craziness is cause for the Western leaders to worry.  It’s different today than it was during the Cold War when the nuclear standoff worked because both sides were rational.  
    Both sides understood the catastrophic consequences of the use of nuclear weapons.  They knew that the use of nuclear weapons would lead to MAD – mutually assured destruction.  So they didn’t do it.
    Putin must be suffering from paranoia because he claims that he is surrounded.  But NATO accounts for only 6% of his land border.  It’s either that or his health problems are causing him to be wary of people who surround him. 
    U.S. media reported that Putin is going to undergo cancer treatment.  That means that he would have to temporarily hand over power to the secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, which was reported by the U.S.’s New York Post. The anticipated surgery and recovery are expected to incapacitate Putin for "a short time," the report said.  The New York Times further reported that Putin has been rumored to suffer from a host of other serious maladies, including Parkinson’s disease.  He was seen tightly gripping a desk during a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last month.
Is it fair to presume that Vladimir Putin’s reign will soon come to an end? 
(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)