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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