May 9 is the most important secular holiday in Russia. They celebrate the 1945 victory over Hitler, who killed 27 million Russians starting with his Operation Barbarossa invasion on June 22, 1941. Their name for World War II is the Great Patriotic War.
This year’s parade received little coverage in our media. I’ll cover it here, and parse its importance. Send this to your friends because it’s the most important story nobody else is covering.
A 9-hour video is here. A 11 minute video summary is here, on which at 4:29 you can see:
That’s an RT-2PM2 Topol-M. Nato calls it the SS-27 Sickle B. Wikipedia describes it: “The Topol-M is a cold-launched, three-stage, solid-propellant, silo-based or road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile.” Cold-launched means it could be launched in minutes. As I described in my recent article, “72 Minutes to Nuclear Armageddon,” that means its could launch a warhead landing on its target in the United States in 26 minutes and 40 seconds.
“According to chief designer Yury Solomonov, the missile can carry four to six warheads along with decoys. It is claimed to have the highest accuracy of any Russian ICBM.” A warhead can be up to 10 megatons. Meaning that single missile could destroy six major U.S. cities, killing perhaps 60 million people within an hour. There is no way to stop it.
In the longer video you can see the eternal flame lit in front of what they call the Soviet Union’s 12 Hero Cities. In Russian, Hero City alliterates: Gorod-Geroi. Here’s the Wiki map of them:
You’ll notice Minsk is in Belarus, a close Russian ally. Its leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, was at the parade. And four cities are in the Ukraine: Brest Fortress, Odessa, Kiev and Sevastopol. Here’s a picture of the latter’s inscription on the eternal flame, taken from Wikipedia:
Sevastopol is in Crimea. Now, do you think Russia will be giving Crimea to Ukraine/Nato/US? If you think so, look back above to the picture of Comrade Topol M.
Because they’re also Hero Cities, I think Russia also will take over Odessa and either do the same for Kiev, or insist it remain a vassal along with whatever else is left of Ukraine, including Brest.
Next, look at the symbolism throughout the parade video. The slogan you see reads: “Победа!” – Pobdea! – Victory! Sometimes it’s “Victory! 1945-2024.” Here’s a shot from 4:47 in the short video:
And look at this from 1:16 in the short video:
It shows both the Russian flag, to the left, and the Soviet communist flag, to the right – the hammer and sickle. Russians are aware of the crimes of the Soviet period: the mass purges killing up to 60 million, the gulag concentration camps, and Stalin’s 1939 pact with Hitler. But they fold their history, good and bad, into the narrative of their country. Stalin lead them to Победа! — Victory! — over Hitler, so the communist flag commemorates that.
Contrast that with America, where the New York Times’ odious, lying “1619 Project” smears our ancestors. As Wikipedia described it, “The 1619 Project is a revisionist historiographical work that takes a critical view of traditionally revered figures and events in American history, including the Patriots in the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers, along with Abraham Lincoln and the Union during the Civil War.”
Another outrage is where our military bases named after Confederate generals are renamed, as Ft. Bragg in South Carolina was changed to Ft. Liberty. Everything is turned into an unnuanced, Marxist attack on our history, leaving nothing in its wake except lies and hatred. What kind of country does this to itself? And can a country that wallows in self-hatred survive?
You also can see the Russian soldiers doing the goose-step. They didn’t get that from the Nazis. They got it from the Prussians (with a P). America also was advised by a Prussian during our Revolution, Baron von Steuben, after whom Steubenville was named. Fortunately, our Army didn’t adopt the goose-step or my knees would be in even worse shape.
So, where does all this lead? Russians are fatalistic. They look on Biden as another in a line of them: Charles XII, Napoleon, Hitler. If that means they lose another 27 million, or 127 million, in a nuclear war – oh well. But this time they will take with them in 72 minutes 227 million Americans and 427 million Europeans.
Meanwhile, Americans demented leaders look on Putin as another Hitler. Here’s Washington Post columnist George Will, years ago a respected conservative columnist of calm temperament. In April he headlined his column on the Ukraine aid bill: “So, 112 ignoble, infantile Republicans voted to endanger civilization.” The Hitler references: “In March 1941, Congress approved Lend-Lease aid to Britain and others … axis … axis … Hitler… Rhineland in 1936 … blitzkrieg … great unraveling that was World War II.”
You hear such comparisons all the time. Putin = Hitler and it’s 1936 or 1938, therefore America must stop him. But: 1. Hitler didn’t have 1,700 nuclear weapons. 2. It’s Ukraine’s government that includes Right Sector, Azov Brigade and other Nazi groups. 3. Russians lost 27 million people driving Hitler back to his Berlin bunker.
If Russia says Biden is Hitler and America says Putin is Hitler, the only resolution to stop Hitler this time is to blow up the world.
What’s the way out? Negotiation. Biden obviously is incapable of it. If the Democratic Party has anybody with sense leading it, he needs to be switched out for Kamala or Newsom or anybody. Trump obviously could negotiate an end to this madness.
But to show how the United States has become a ridiculously unserious country, here are the headlines on May 9 as Russia was holding its Victory Over Hitler parade:
The New York Times, the “paper of record”: “Judge Again Denies Trump Lawyers’ Request for a Mistrial: The defense lawyers had argued that Stormy Daniels’s testimony in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial was prejudicial. In denying their motion, the judge said they had opened the door to her vivid descriptions of a sexual encounter.”
The Washington Post, the government’s own hometown newspaper: “Stormy Daniels finishes testimony, judge again denies Trump lawyers’ mistrial request.”
Great post John. First time here but I’ll check back more often.