When there are no meaningful achievements to demonstrate victories of the past become their substitute. This is how Kremlin ideologists work. That is why in modern Russia the victory of USSR in WW II is raised to some ideological absolute.
During the last two decades the cult of Victory Day is being promoted increasingly. Undoubtedly, heroic act of veterans of WWII is worth of honor and admiration. Sad to say, they are honored on the eve of the famous day only. Nobody is worried about the fact that veterans languish and make ends meet.
By contrast to the countries of Western Europe that celebrate the Victory Day on 8 May, Russia does it on 9th. It is celebrated not as the day of honor and reconciliation but as the day of victory over the enemy that has already ceased to exist. Long before the VE Day the theme of victory is actively stirred up in Russian media, people have been ideologically indoctrinated, extensive events, concerts, mass processions, honoring of imaginary veterans (as the most part of real participants of that war have died long ago) are prepared.
This year to commemorate 75th anniversary of WW II Russian diplomacy is making an enormous efforts to attract as much foreign delegations and leaders as possible to participate in festivities on the Red Square in order to demonstrate Russian people the end of international isolation of the state.
As a rule, military parade on the main square is an apotheosis of the celebration and its leading character is the president. Each time Vladimir Putin speaks from the high rostrum calling people not to let the history to be rewritten and not to forget about the great act of Soviet people.
Such calls of Russian leader sound at least cynically, considering the number of wars Russia has unleashed during the last years, both on its own territory and on the territories of other countries: the war in Chechenia (Ichkeria) started under the cover of counter-terrorism, the war in Transnistria where Russian army is based til now, military aggression against Georgia, ad hoc fomenting of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, armed aggression on the East of Ukraine, and war in Syria. Besides, Russian private military companies (f.ex. “Wagner”) take part actively in a set of conflicts in Africa – in Lybia, Сentral Africa Republic, Sudan.
Notable is the fact that lately the Russian president more often raises the issue of return of “Russian lands” which mean the lands of other countries where ethnic Russian people live or Russian-speaking people prevail. Under a pretext of “gathering Russian lands” Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and still makes efforts to create the Union State of Belarus and Russia bringing serious political and economic pressure on president Lukashenko as well as reproaches Baltic states in “discrimination of Russian-speaking people”.
According to rhetoric of Russian leader, it is unlikely that any changes in Russian foreign politics will take place in the nearest future. Moreover, according to amendments to the Constitution Kremlin is going to legalize an annexation of foreign territories formally and ideologically.
Why Russia tends to accumulate new territories? It already takes 1/7 part of the land. Well, that is quite clear. Current Russian authorities can give their people nothing but “achievements” in foreign policy. Authorities are unable to fulfill social commitments to their own people and provide Russian people with descent standard of living. In fact, they can but do not wish. It requires implementation of really deep political and economic reforms that will definitely affect the elite which is affiliated with authorities and is not ready to lose neither power, nor money. In order to distract people from asking inconvenient questions authorities persistently shift attention to external agenda and victories of the past.
