The Ukrainian cloud that overshadowed Putin's 9th May parade in Red Square

Leading up to the 9th May parade in Red Square to commemorate 70 years after the defeat of Nazism, Vitaly Shevchenko reported that,

"Russia [was] awash with symbols of WW2 victory [over Nazism]". (BBC News : 8 May 2015)

From the "[consecration of ribbons]  by the top Orthodox clergyman in Yaroslavl, north of Moscow, to car stickers of Stalin and Putin, to taxis in St. Petersburg adorned with  plastic "tank turrets" on their cars "; symbols of WW2 were simply everywhere.

On the day of the Victory Parade in Moscow (Saturday 9 May) nothing was spared to demonstrate the military might of Russia as soldiers, tanks, planes, and nuclear missiles were paraded before the Russian public.  

 

But overshadowing this choreographed display of Putin's military might was his continuing war with Ukraine.

  

Where once pride of place was given to the president of the US, George Bush, in 2005, that position was yesterday taken up by the Chinese President Xi Jinping (left).

 

Even a contingent of Chinese soldiers (right) was included in this parade.

Of the more that 70 world leaders that were invited to his parade commemorating the defeat of Nazism, only 20 were in attendance, with western leaders conspicuously not attending but expressing their solidarity with Ukrainian President Poroshenko in his fight againt Putin's invasion of eastern Ukraine and his annexing of Ukrainian Crimea. As the BBC's Bridget Kendall (9 May 2015: see video below) reports from Moscow,

"To-day's event was attended by some twenty world leaders. But President Vladimir Putin had invited more that seventy, hoping that leaders from the west would also join him today, in rememberance of a day when he [Russia] and his [its] western allies had stood strong against the threat posed by Nazi Germany .." (my emphasis)

 

 

Putin's anger at the palpable Ukrainian cloud that overshadowed all the time and effort that had been invested in this staged event, and that was meant to show to the world the military might of Russia,  soon erupted.

 

As Tom Batchelor (right) reports,

"The ex-KGB spy – who continues to wage war in eastern Ukraine after capturing the European country's Crimea region last year – claimed Britain and its Nato allies are attempting to create a "unipolar" world dominated by the United States as one global superpower.

The Russian president claimed a “military-bloc mentality” was “gaining momentum”, amid growing unrest with Europe and the US over his country's military aggression.

He warned: "In recent decades the basic principles of international co-operation have been ignored ever more frequently.” (Sunday Express: Sat, May 9) (my emphasis)

Furthermore that,

"The provocative comments suggest there is limited scope for an end to hostilities between the rogue state and British and Western governments – who have applied strict sanctions on Moscow following the annexation of Crimea." (ibid Tom Batchelor) (my emphasis)

What is also rather sticking in Putin's craw is the fact that, as reported by Andrew E. Kramer,

"military instruction [is] being provided by 300 United States Army trainers in three consecutive two-month courses [to Ukrainian soldiers (right)].

Here in western Ukraine, they are far from the fighting, and their job is to instill some basic military know-how in Ukrainian soldiers...." (New York Times : May 9, 2015)

In an interview between Alexander Motyl and Taras Kuzio (below left), who recently returned from an extensive visit to many regions in Ukraine, Kuzio reports that,

MOTYL: What do people expect Russia to do next?

KUZIO: Nobody knows what will happen because the decision lies in one man’s (Putin's) hands. Fortifications [in Mariupol] are everywhere: on the beaches, fields, and roads, showing that Kyiv is actively preparing for a potential invasion. 

But for Putin to establish a land bridge to Crimea would mean a risky escalation from hybrid to full-scale war (it would require 50,000–100,000 Russian troops, not just “green men”). 

That would have untold regional and international ramifications. (World Affairs : 7 May 2015) (my emphasis)

Putin's warning after his attendence at his 9 May military parade in Red Square that,

"In recent decades the basic principles of international co-operation have been ignored ever more frequently” ;

when viewed against the background of people in Mariupol preparing for an imminent invasion of Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers simply underscores Kuzio's contention that such an invasion,

"..would have untold regional and international ramifications.."

Putin has, however, already stepped into the abyss of a Black Swan event of his own creation.

We should now be prepared for its consequences.

(to be continued)