leaders of the victors and the vanquished united monday to commemorate
the 60th anniversary of the allied victory over nazi germany, with russian
president vladimir putin hosting president bush and dozens of others in
a red square celebration replete with goose-stepping soldiers, hammer-and-sickle
flags and other symbols of the soviet era.
at a lavish military parade, putin evoked the alliance that brought victory
but he also stressed the soviets' huge sacrifice in defeating adolf hitler's
germany.
"i bow low before all veterans of the great patriotic war,"
he said, using russia's name for world war ii, which killed an estimated
27 million soviets during nearly four years of bitter fighting after the
nazi invasion of 1941.
amid strict security that closed the heart of moscow to ordinary citizens,
putin watched the parade from a podium in front of lenin's tomb flanked
by bush, french president jacques chirac and german chancellor gerhard
schroeder. on the Kremlin wall, the word "victory" was emblazoned
in several languages, including those of the war's losers.
putin described may 9, 1945—commemorated in russia as
victory day—as "a day of victory of good over evil,
freedom over tyranny."
beneath overcast skies, the parade began with four goose-stepping soldiers
in ceremonial gold-embroidered uniforms carrying a replica of the red
hammer-and-sickle banner unfurled atop the reichstag in berlin after the
building was seized by soviet troops a week before the nazi surrender.
veterans adorned with gleaming medals rode by in green trucks.
soldiers in modern and world war ii-era uniforms—infantrymen
with red flags topped by soviet insignia, tank troopers with black padded
helmets—marched in tight formation, the slap of their
boots echoing across the cobblestones. jets streamed smoke in the russian
flag's white, blue and red colors above the square after putin's speech.
while russians have often complained that the soviets' wartime role is
underrated in the west, putin said that "we have never divided the
victory between ours and theirs, and we will always remember the help
of the allies," listing the united states, britain, france and those
who fought fascism in germany and italy.
"today we pay tribute to the courage of all europeans who countered
nazism," putin said.
however, he added, "the most cruel and decisive events unfolded on
the territory of the soviet union." listing battles such as stalingrad,
kursk and the siege of leningrad—where he was born in
1952—putin said that "the red army put a victorious
end to the war with the liberation of europe and the battle for berlin."
recent public bickering over the soviets' postwar domination of eastern
europe and western allegations of democratic backsliding in russia was
put aside for the celebration.
putin and bush smiled when the american president arrived for the parade.
when bush lowered his umbrella, despite the rain, to allow photographs,
putin laughed and did the same. the russian leader reserved the seat next
to him for bush, calling him a guest of "special importance."
after the parade, bush walked next to putin as the international leaders
strolled to the tomb of the unknown soldier and laid red carnations alongside
a carpet of red roses spread in honor of those killed in world war ii.
they stood silently before an eternal flame at the tomb close to the red
brick kremlin wall before heading inside for a reception.
speaking at the reception, putin drew a parallel between word war ii and
today's threats from extremism and terrorism. "we must strengthen
our cooperation in the fight against this evil," he said.
he also said victory over the nazis brought "the right to freedom,
to life itself, to an independent choice of a path of development"—the
kind of remark bitterly disputed in the baltic states, which were annexed
by the soviet union and gained independence only with its breakup in 1991.
the leaders of two baltic nations, estonia and lithuania, stayed away,
angered by putin's portrayal of the soviet union as a liberator despite
decades of occupation. bush balanced his moscow visit with a trip to latvia,
another baltic nation, and flew monday to georgia, a former soviet state
where a new pro-western leadership is seeking to shed russian influence.
after the reception, putin and other vips gathered in red square for a
concert that started with the tolling of the kremlin bells and a moment
of silence.
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