Russia marks 75th anniversary of Stalingrad with parades and nostalgia
Moscow has increasingly capitalized on the unifying memory of the Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis at Stalingrad. The 75th anniversary comes ahead of presidential elections in two months.
One of Soviet Russia's greatest World War II triumphs
Russia celebrated the 75th anniversary of the defense of Stalingrad on Friday with somber memorials and patriotic military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin was a highly visible presence throughout the day, laying wreaths, addressing veterans and attending military parades. He is seen here in front of 85-meter The Motherland Calls statue in what is now called Volgograd.
Putin calls on Russians to measure up to their ancestors
Putin told veterans the Soviet victory at Stalingrad was an inspiration. "The unified resistance and readiness for self-sacrifice were truly undefeatable, incomprehensible and frightening for the enemy," Putin said. "Defenders of Stalingrad have passed a great heritage to us: love for the motherland, readiness to protect its interests and independence, to stand strong in the face of any test."
Military parade
Official figures said 30,000 spectators watched a military parade through the streets of Volgograd despite sub-zero temperatures. The parade included about 1,500 troops, armored vehicles and jets flying ahead.
Armored vehicles
The parade featured 75 tanks — one for each year since the victory — as well as an Iskander ballistic missile system and an advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system. Ground forces included T-90 tanks and armored Tigr infantry mobility vehicles.
Red Army nostalgia
The memorial parade included people (traffic controllers according to some sources) dressed up in Red Army winter uniforms and felt boots. The Soviet Union’s defeat of the Nazis forms a pillar of modern Russian identity and has been increasingly celebrated by Moscow to stoke patriotism. Putin will almost certainly be reelected in presidential elections in two months.
Soviet style banners
Other displays of communist nostalgia included members of the Yunarmiya (Young Army) military patriotic movement as well as soldiers parading with images of Soviet war heroes and Soviet-style banners.
A crushing defeat
The battle of Stalingrad started in July 1942 and lasted five months and was the bloodiest battle in history. About 2 million soldiers and civilians perished in the fighting there, many from starvation and exposure. The final group of Nazi troops under Marshal Friedrich Paulus finally surrendered on February 2, 1943, in the first surrender by the Nazis since the war began.