Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the decision to put off the anticipated parade in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 75th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism, Kommersant writes. The head of state emphasized that the risks associated with the coronavirus epidemic were still extremely high. He noted though that 2020 had been declared the Year of Memory and Glory in Russia and vowed that all events planned for May 9 would be held later this year.
At a video conference meeting with Russia’s Security Council on Thursday, the president drew a parallel between the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany and the current situation of Russia fighting the spread of coronavirus, stressing that in those days people fought against Nazism for the sake of their survival.
Earlier in the day, Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (upper house) Valentina Matviyenko said that the date for the Victory Parade would depend on how the coronavirus situation in the country unfolded. She assured that the parade would be held this year and promised that it would be grandiose.
Meanwhile, Alexei Makarkin, Deputy Head of the Center for Political Technologies, pointed to the change in national priorities. Despite the importance of the Victory Day Parade for the ideological doctrine promoted by the authorities, the need to take care of people’s lives and health comes first. According to the expert, the decision to put off the parade was a rational step, and one should not overestimate its potential demoralizing effect on public opinion. “People understand that the congestion of participants in the parade and spectators in the center of Moscow might contribute to the widening of the epidemic,” the paper quotes him as saying.
