Putin’s Parades Can’t Hide a Missing Victory

Even for a country that has weaponized the memory of World War II to the point where there is a word for hyperbolic celebrations of Victory Day — pobedobesie, or victory frenzy — this year marked a new high. With its military bogged down in Ukraine, the domestic propaganda machine latched onto past successes instead, going into overdrive ahead of Monday’s commemorations. The fevered pitch, in turn, fueled overseas speculation that President Vladimir Putin would use the moment to mark a dramatic new stage in his two-month war.

That he did not — he used a brief speech on Red Square instead to evoke Soviet heroism and repeat assertions that Moscow was provoked into action, without once mentioning Ukraine by name — says plenty about the heightened expectations of foreign observers, mismatched with reality in a conflict that will grind on for some time. But it was also a reminder of the limits of Putin’s power. Even autocrats cannot mobilize a nation for war, having called it a “special military operation,” without unwanted costs. Nor can they easily spin defeat as national success.