On Friday, Russia celebrated the first “anniversary” of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions in violation of international law. On this occasion, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin observed a minute’s silence for former prisoners who died in the war. There was also a ‘patriotic concert’ on Red Square in Moscow. According to the Russian exile medium ‘Medusa’, its name is strongly reminiscent of a National Socialist slogan.
Russian state media published a video on Friday in which Putin met soldiers believed to have been involved in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The Kremlin boss said in the short film clip that the prisoners had freed themselves from their guilt through the war effort. “We are all human and everyone can make mistakes. They committed them, but they gave their lives for the homeland and fully atoned for their guilt,” Putin said.
Since the invasion of Ukraine more than nineteen months ago, Russia has repeatedly recruited prisoners for combat operations. According to open sources, 32,656 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine so far, according to journalists from BBC Russia and the opposition news portal Mediasona.
Most of the people who died were probably prisoners
Most of the dead were former prisoners recruited first by the private army “Wagner” and then by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Many of them were killed in the extremely costly fighting around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut several months ago. There are also increasing reports that ex-prisoners returning from Ukraine are committing new crimes in Russia.
Patriotic concert in the heart of Moscow
The celebration of “One country, one family, one Russia” took place on Red Square on Friday in light of the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia a year ago. The Russian exile medium ‘Medusa’ draws attention to parallels with the slogan ‘One people, one empire, one leader’, which the National Socialists had been promoting for themselves since 1933 and thereby also wanted to point to national unity.
Domestic political show of force
The Kremlin mainly wanted to use the event as a domestic political display of power. Participants include Russian pop stars who have become a regular part of these types of concerts, such as Dima Bilan, Grigory Leps and Sergei Lazarev.
As is known, Putin also likes to attend patriotic celebrations. This time, however, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had to disappoint his supporters; according to those in power, the event was not part of the president’s plans. What is also different from before is that this time the concert was not broadcast on TV or on the internet.
Annexation of Ukrainian territories
On September 30, 2022, Putin and the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson, which had been brutally annexed by Russia, signed an agreement according to which the regions would join Russia. At the time, Russia’s alleged victories in sham referendums served as a pretext.
Source: Krone
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