Saturday, May 4, 2019

Fewer Russians Want Victory Parades and a Militarist Foreign Policy, More Want Attention to Veterans


Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 3 – Only 23 percent of Russians approve the idea of another Victory Day parade, down from 35 percent a year ago, according to a new Levada Center poll. At the same time, more than half say the anniversary should be the occasion to show more attention to the needs of veterans, with almost a quarter saying Russia should seek to end military conflicts.

            At the same time, 76 percent say they will watch the parade in Moscow on television, 48 percent say they are happy that their country achieved victory, while 27 percent said they grieved for the millions of those who died in World War II, figures that reflect the continuing importance of the war for Russians and divisions among them about its use by the current regime (levada.ru/2019/04/30/den-pobedy-3/).

            Clearly the patriotic bombast the Putin regime puts out still echoes with many, but increasingly, this poll makes clear, ever more Russians want to turn away from the wars he has gotten the country involved in and focus instead on the needs of veterans and others in Russian society.

            What is striking is that concerns for veterans of that conflict appear to be increasing even as their number fades. Millions of Russians and other Soviet peoples fought in that war, but with the passing of time, only 74,000 Russian veterans remain alive and far fewer elsewhere (newsland.com/community/4765/content/v-rossii-ostalos-74-tys-veteranov-i-uchastnikov-velikoi-otechestvennoi/6732575).

                It would thus be far easier for the Putin regime to address their problems now than it was a decade or more ago when there were far more veterans among the living. The fact that the Kremlin hasn’t done so except in individual cases designed to attract media attention is thus yet another reason Russians have for being upset with their government. 

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