By Berina Dizdar
“Russia has been and will continue to be an indestructible obstacle to Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism, and will stand in the way of the violence perpetrated by the champions of these aggressive and destructive ideas. Truth and justice are on our side. The whole of Russia, our society and all people support the participants in the special military operation”.
— Vladimir Putin, Victory Day speech, 9 May 2025.
Tanks drive across Moscow´s Red Square. Soviet flags flutter. Choirs proudly perform wartime ballads. On the surface, Russia’s Victory Day parade appears to be an innocent and heartfelt tribute to the nation´s past. But peel back the curtain, and you’ll notice a chilling display of Putin´s state-propaganda in action.
Each year on 9 May, Moscow’s city-square is transformed into a huge spectacle containing hundreds of tanks, military salutes, and Soviet-era symbols. Officially, the Victory Day parade in Russia is supposed to mark and celebrate the USSR’s victory over Nazi Germany under WWII. But under Vladimir Putin, Victory Day has become a performance seeking to glorify the Soviet past, demand national loyalty, and a method of justifying its current geopolitical actions to the world and to its citizens.
Few are fully aware of how deeply political the parade has become, or of just how carefully it manufactures the Kremlin’s narrative of the world and its enemies. In 2025, with the war in Ukraine still raging, Europe would be wise to pay far closer attention, not just to the parade itself, but to the alarming narratives it promotes to the world. Ignoring means letting the Kremlin’s version of history go unchallenged.
History on Repeat
The aesthetics of the annual Moscow parade rarely change: red Soviet banners, military vehicles, veterans in uniform, and wartime songs praising the “great glory” of the Red-Army. But the message that is being promoted by the parade isn’t solely about 1945, it is increasingly about justifying today’s Russia.
Putin’s embrace of Soviet visuals during the event is no coincidence. It should be seen as nothing more than a well-calculated strategy to portray the Kremlin’s current actions, especially its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As part of an unbroken and so-called historical “Russian struggle” against fascism and Western “wrongdoings”, Putin intentionally recycles the language of WWII to justify both Russia’s war abroad and repression at home. This is not at all accidental; his speeches lean heavily on familiar Soviet phrases like “comrades” “defenders of the fatherland”, and “sacred war” —all of which is language that still resonates deeply with many Russians, especially among older generations.
Moscow uses Soviet-era achievements for state propaganda because they hold deep personal meaning for millions of Russians. Just the thought of the sacrifices made by their parents and grandparents during WWII are a source of pride and identity for many Russians. By invoking these memories, the state seeks to tap into strong emotions that make its message more powerful. This connection helps rally loyalty and frames current actions as part of a noble legacy, turning history into a tool for justifying today’s policies.
While Russia Revokes the Past, Ukraine Actively Rejects It
While Russia leans into Soviet nostalgia, Ukraine has taken the complete opposite path. It is worth noting that for many years, Ukraine also held traditional Victory Day celebrations on 9 May, much like the ones seen in Russia. But since the removal of the pro-Russian Yanukovych in 2014, and especially so after the passing of the decommunisation laws in 2015, that banned the promotion of Communist symbols in 2015, the country has actively tried to distance itself from the narratives that Moscow promotes. Soviet symbols were banned, Lenin statues removed, and streets renamed, all part of collective national efforts to actively break away from the legacy of Russian domination.
Today, Ukraine is actively seeking to build a distinct civic identity rooted in democracy and sovereignty, which is a direct rejection of the militarized mythmaking Putin continues to stage each year. Even though Ukraine was once part of the Soviet Union, those symbols don’t evoke pride for most Ukrainians, but rather represent repression and the erasure of national identity. What Moscow may frame as historical glory, many in Kyiv see as a painful reminder of a past they’re highly determined to move beyond.
A Divided Europe
While most European leaders boycotted this year’s parade, two political figures raised some eyebrows in Brussels: Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico both attended the event in Moscow. Their presence contributed to sending a quiet signal back home that the Kremlin’s geopolitical narratives still resonate in parts of Europe.
Although their attendance didn’t dominate the show, it subtly reinforced Putin’s portrayal of Russia as not being completely geopolitically isolated, but rather respected by “allies”, even amongst political figures in the EU who also share some level of scepticism towards Europe and the West. This can, in turn, be utilised by the Kremlin to justify their narratives even further, which remains highly problematic.
Why It Matters for Europe in 2025
Europe can no longer view Victory Day as just another Russian war commemoration. It is a tool of state propaganda that shapes how Russians understand the world and gives Putin a way to justify war, repression, and anti-Western sentiment. While many European leaders distance themselves from the parade, the attendance of leaders like Vučić and Fico shows that Russia’s narratives still find support in certain parts of Europe.
While it is noted that most EU leaders boycotted the event entirely, few fully grasp how deeply the parade promotes a twisted nationalist story that seeks to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Ukraine struggles for independence. The Kremlin strategically distorts WWII history by calling Ukraine “nazis”, to legitimize their aggression. When European leaders fail to call this out clearly, it weakens Europe’s ability to stay united against authoritarianism and puts our values at risk. This makes symbolic support for Ukraine more important than ever in pushing back against these dangerous narratives.
As such, the EU must adopt a more proactive and critical stance. This includes not only supporting democratic memory-building in Ukraine and elsewhere, but also publicly confronting European leaders who publicly lend legitimacy to the Kremlin by participating in such events. A unified and values-driven Europe cannot afford silence or strategic ambiguity-especially when the continent’s history is being rewritten in real time by Moscow.
Conclusion
In the end, Moscow´s parade is not just a mere spectacle, but a direct challenge to Europe´s values and security. By distorting history, it fuels division and justifies the Kremlin´s aggression even further. Europe cannot afford to treat Moscow’s parade as an empty theatre. It must answer distortion with unity, and propaganda with an uncompromising defence of truth and peace.
About the author
Berina Dizdar is a 21 year-old Bosnian-Norwegian BA student at Maastricht University studying European Studies. She is particularly interested in how history and post-communist legacies influence politics and identities in Eastern Europe and the wider EU overall. This blog post reflects her curiosity about how memory and narratives shape current conflicts and political debates in the region.
European Studies Review 