President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday was celebrating his country’s victory 80 years ago against Nazi Germany, presiding over a huge military parade in Moscow joined by China’s top leader, Xi Jinping.
The event signified Mr. Putin’s aim to project himself as a leader of an emerging alliance of anti-Western and nonaligned states with Mr. Xi, who was sitting next to him on a stand overlooking Red Square.
More than 20 other international dignitaries were also attending, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, and President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia. Some viewed the large number of foreign leaders as a sign of Russia’s global clout despite Western efforts to isolate Mr. Putin after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But after three years of war, the display of military might did not reflect Russia’s record on the battlefield. The country’s military has not achieved a decisive victory, and it has only made incremental gains in Ukraine in recent months. The economy has also been slowing because of falling oil prices and interest rates that have been kept high as the country tries to tame inflation.
Over the past three years, Mr. Putin has tried to use the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany to legitimize his invasion of Ukraine. But a moment that has historically been the country’s biggest secular event and served to unite the country’s many factions has instead turned into another point of division.
Ivan Nechepurenko covers Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the countries of the Caucasus, and Central Asia. He is based in Moscow.
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