The 9th of May is approaching, which by far is the most important holiday in Putin's Russia. It overshadows any other religious, historical or cultural celebration, manifesting itself as a sort of pagan religion. The event was sanctified during the time of the Communists. Alongside the 7th of November (the day of the coup of 1917) this event was given mystical meanings. Its symbolic charge was brought to a maximum degree of paroxysmal fanaticism. Everyone is obliged to confess this faith without any deviation, otherwise risking being severely sanctioned by the regime that strenuously watches over the observance of the state religion that we might call sovietolatry.
The Russian government uses this holiday to glorify not only the heroism of the more than 20 million people killed in the war ― losses that could have been largely avoided ― but also Stalin's merciless, insane rule, under which so many millions perished. The official lie still in use today claims that the USSR saved the world from the fascist plague, but fails to mention that the Soviets infected several European peoples with the communist plague. Eastern and Central European nations know very well what the price of the Bolshevik liberation from the Nazis was: Military occupation, political terror, the deprivation of property, and other splendors of the tyrannical regime directed from Moscow.
But even after the fall of the communist regime, even today, more than 35 years after the countries under Soviet occupation freed themselves from Moscow's guardianship, the Kremlin does not tolerate countries in the ex-communist space deviating from the official line of neo-Soviet propaganda. In the Republic of Moldova, for example, May 9th is a permanent occasion of political war between the Sovietolaters affiliated to the Kremlin and the pro-Westerners who challenge the achievements of the communist paradise.
The culmination of the blasphemy of this fundamentalist cult is the divinization of the “<strong>eternal flame</strong>” that purportedly honors the memory of those who died for the defense of their homeland. This is while any man with a minimum religious education knows from prayers that the phrase “eternal flame” or “eternal fire” signifies nothing but hell, the fire of Hell, the cursed place where the souls of sinners are tormented for eternity. Is it a mere theological ignorance or a coincidence? Hard to believe, if we are to consider the demonic essence of the communist heresy.
The sumptuous manner in which Moscow is preparing to mark May 9 this year is truly awe-inspiring. For more than three years, Russia has been at war. It is carried out not only on the territory of Ukraine ― Russia is also suffering, with daily human casualties and considerable material losses. And it is still premature to talk about Russia’s victory over the regime in Kiev. A victory in a war involves the surrender of one of the warring parties, not mutual destruction to the advantage of third parties and mediation by a Trump (who has already failed!) resulting in an illusory and deceitful peace treaty.
I have said it before and I will say it again: The propagandistic facade of today's Russia reminds one of Potemkin's village, the actions and statements of officials bearing a theatrical scenery character. The authorities seek only the preservation of appearances, while reality is obscured by a smokescreen of official lies. The very nature of the ideology called putinism is a kind of melange formed by the religion of Soviet civilization and the myths of liberal ideology. A toxic cocktail pouring like a tsunami over Russian citizens deprived of access to alternative information and punished with imprisonment for deviation from the official line.
The most ingrate and somewhat vulgar term, but which nevertheless perfectly characterizes the mentality of the putinist regime is that of “sovok”. Traslated literally, a sovok is a dustpan – but it is also used to describe someone who remains impregnated to the bone marrow with adoration of the Soviet regime, being considered by the more cultivated people a prick. The term can be used to describe Vladimir Putin. His attempt to pose in the (im)posture of the Orthodox, aș a person who has distanced himself from the disease of the previous century, does not hold up to scrutiny.
Indeed, the reins of power in Russia today are maintained by some characters who were (de)formed for decades under the old communist regime. They simply do not know anything more, and at their age intellectual ankylosis is a natural state. The Russian government is a gerontocracy; that is, as the dictionary says, a system of government in which political power or leadership belongs to the elders.
For example, let's review the ages of the main power holders in Russia. Vladimir Putin, president - 73 years old, Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister - 75 years old, Yuri Ushakov, adviser to the president for foreign policy issues - 78 years old, Nikolai Patrushev - former head of the FSB, presidential adviser - 74 years old, Sergei Shoigu, ex-minister of Defense, secretary of the Security Council - 70 years.
May 9 is celebrated in the conditions of a massive intensification of drone attacks carried out by the regime in Kiev. However, the risks of mentioning the target of terrorist acts cannot stop the Moscow state machinery from demonstrating once again ideological continuity in relation to the USSR. Even if Lenin's mausoleum will be bashfully draped with some decorative curtains. Nor should we forget the fact that in recent decades Stalin's cult has become state policy in Russia.
The Kremlin gives enormous importance to attracting as many foreign delegations as possible to the May 9 event in Russia’s capital. Putin seeks to show that he is not in international isolation. And the victories of our forefathers in the war 80 years ago should somehow cover for the failures of those who exploit the sacrifices of previous generations.
A strange state of jubilation. While Russian soldiers and officers die on the front line in Ukraine, and the territory of Russia is attacked daily by hundreds of enemy drones, the Kremlin administration does what it does best: Festivities, parades and masquerades, only to cover somehow their own inconsistency and especially their inability to achieve decisive victory in Ukraine.
