The military show of Forza Russo masks the economic and diplomatic cracks
Russia will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on Friday with the heads of state visiting and a show of armed power in Piazza Rossa, staged as a global, grandiose and intimidating performance, and a president of any triumph in the war against Ukraine.The annual military parade below the walls and the ceremlin towers should be the largest since Russia has invaded Ukraine in 2022, a commemoration that the government and its cheerleaders used to raise support for war, confusing what could be the largest source of national pride with the much more divisive conflict."Our great victory 80 years ago is a new narrative, a new conception of the current stall of Russia with the West," said Sergei Lyaguzin, professor of international relations, on Russian state television th...