Putin’s parade on the street, green men in a chest

Hooray – to doom! Moscow has had “cool” celebrations and a military parade. She was joined by Putin with rich fairy tales and classic demagoguery. In short – a perfect picture of the mental world of today’s Russia, which is plunging headlong into decline.

Celebrations of victory in the Great Patriotic War (which, of course, have nothing to do with the dismemberment of Poland together with Hitler) used to be spectacular events and demonstrations of the military power of a great power in the past. They were regularly attended by leaders from all over the world. That is, until Russia became a totalitarian conquest. This time, apart from Lukashenko, only the leaders of the Asian ex-Soviet republics accepted the invitation. This alone speaks volumes about the Russian dictator’s declining credit on the international chessboard.

Even a modest military parade did not help the image of a declining superpower. The classic exhibition of dozens of modern tanks and a Russian squadron was replaced by the rolling World War II-era T-34s. Whether this was intentional or simply moving older models from museums to the front on a large scale does not matter much. The message was clear – Russia is no longer what it used to be. That is, rather by what it appeared.

But the bottom line has been said – the Russian dictator has poured out his heart again. Putin said nothing new in his speech. He merely reassured us that nothing has changed at all in his Orwellian mental world, in which war is peace and lies are true. He persuaded domestic audiences that he wanted a future of peace, freedom and stability, while the Russian army littered Ukraine with another wave of missile “doves of peace”.

He also warned observers against aggressive nationalism and an ideology of superiority. That is, before the toxic elements of totalitarian regimes, which he himself cultivates on home soil.

For those who still doubt it, the differences between Putin’s speech and actions are glaring. Just as peace is not achieved by offensive military invasion and extermination of civilians, so freedom is not cultivated by locking up opponents or suppressing freedom of expression. Why are we still not clear about this?