[RD] Russia Invades Ukraine: Eight

[Verbose]

It's the propaganda narratives colliding.

The Russian is hat they aren't at war with Ukrane – since there is no real Ukraine to be at war with (Nazis, foreign mercenaries, NATO, now maybe Europe since the narrative is getting increasingly garbled re who the adversary is) – but importantly Russia is not a country at war, everything is normal peacetime in Russia, nothing to see at all... Which is a narrative that so far plays well in the global south.

Since one of the big points of the Russian narrative is to completely deny Ukraine all agency, it becomes a Ukranian priority precisely to point out that Russia is a country at war, hence visitors should be warned – and as it happens if that includes an insistence on Ukranian agency as the source of this insecurity, that runs exactly counter to the Russian propaganda narrative.

It's all for third-party consumption.

 

[Zardnaar]

Ukraine might attack on May Day celebrations. If tgey wanted to make a point and clown on Putin something like leaflets would be more effective than explosives.

Make an ass of Russian air defense. Assuming the drone or whatever gets through.

Russian air defense debris would be the danger.

 

[Birdjaguar]

publicly revealing military plans of his country during wartime,

Wait, there is no war now and hasn't been one. Putin has said so.

 

[Snowygerry]

Ukraine might attack on May Day celebrations. If tgey wanted to make a point and clown on Putin something like leaflets would be more effective than explosives.

Make an ass of Russian air defense. Assuming the drone or whatever gets through.

Russian air defense debris would be the danger.

They need not attack the event itself, they can exploit the Russian preoccupation, hit targets of real military value elsewhere.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s flight to Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day parade was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Baku after being denied access to several European airspaces and facing reported security threats, including the risk from air defense systems along the planned route.

In a similar diplomatic snub, Poland and Lithuania also blocked Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico from attending the Moscow event, while Estonia issued a blanket ban on all flights headed to Russia for the commemoration.

Serbian President Vučić’s Plane Diverted to Baku en Route to Moscow Amid Airspace Bans - KahawaTungu

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s flight to Moscow for the Victory Day parade was forced to land in Baku due to airspace denials and security threats. The EU and Baltic states had warned against the visit, escalating tensions amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

kahawatungu.com

Other restrictions are self-imposed :

Russian authorities have imposed mobile internet restrictions in Moscow and surrounding regions ahead of Victory Day celebrations, citing security concerns.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the measures could remain in place through May 10, while foreign leaders visit the Russian capital. “These are not outages, but restrictions for understandable reasons,” he said. “We want the glorious Victory Day to be celebrated at the proper level.”

Russians face massive mobile internet restrictions ahead of Victory Day parade

The Kremlin said there were "restrictions for understandable reasons" on mobile internet service ahead of this year's Victory Day celebrations.

therecord.media

A return to the "level" of the early 1990s is appropriate for such a grand celebration imho

 

[Snowygerry]

Fifth columnists hard at work, best be vigilant.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-it-uncovered-hungarian-spy-network-2025-05-09/

The SBU said the two suspects are former members of the Ukrainian military. It said they were recruited by a handler in Hungarian military intelligence, and given cash and special equipment for secret communication.

The agents were tasked with passing on to their handler details about Ukraine's air defence batteries, and other military capabilities in the Transcarpathia region of southern Ukraine, which borders Hungary.

 

[Kyriakos]

In the end the parade went on without issues, video from it:

You can use auto-generated subs if you wish, it is hosting statements made about the parade and describes the general tone. Only European leaders attending were (apart from Putin) the leaders of Serbia and Slovakia.

 

[Snowygerry]

No thanks. I might catch communism by clicking that clip, probably won’t get rid of it in the next 50 years

Think you mean Slovakia, not Slovenia.

 

[Kyriakos]

Think you mean Slovakia, not Slovenia.

Meh ^^ Edited now.

 

[Ordnael]

No thanks. I might catch communism by clicking that clip.

Think you mean Slovakia, not Slovenia.

Communism...what communism!?
Communism is a never achieved utopia.
The attendants are mostly from autocracies in bed with oligarchs!
The only thing they share with communism is a path riddled with dead bodies.

 

[Snowygerry]

Yes just a joke, the red army Russians were hardly better than the brown army Germans, just imho, obviously.

Sodd off with their celebration.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Moderator Action: Back to news please

 

[red_elk]

Only European leaders attending were (apart from Putin) the leaders of Serbia and Slovakia.

Barely made it in time, chose to go through Estonian airspace, of all other variants.
Predictably, the passage was blocked at last moment.

 

[Gedemon]

Any reason he couldn't fly over Belarus ?

 

[Kyriakos]

Barely made it in time, chose to go through Estonian airspace, of all other variants.
Predictably, the passage was blocked at last moment.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-pm-fico-searches-route-russia-after-baltics-close-airspace-2025-05-08/

Pretty pointless ^^

 

[Gedemon]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/slovak-pm-fico-searches-route-russia-after-baltics-close-airspace-2025-05-08/

Pretty pointless ^^

ha, that article answers my question

Aircraft travelling between Russia and Europe have typically used Lithuanian airspace since European carriers were told in 2021 to avoid the shorter route via Belarus as part of punitive measures against Minsk in response to it scrambling a warplane to force the landing of a Ryanair flight.

 

[red_elk]

Any reason he couldn't fly over Belarus ?

No idea, may be trying to keep farther away from Ukraine.

 

[Lexicus]

Yes just a joke, the red army Russians were hardly better than the brown army Germans, just imho, obviously.

Sodd off with their celebration.

On behalf of all the inmates of the death camps who lived because the Red Army reached them in time, [redacted] yourself

There are some awkward constructions in this statement that I think are from translation, but I like it:

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-z-nagodi-dnya-pamyati-ta-peremogi-nad-97625

 

[red_elk]

Russia exudes confidence at parade marking 80 years since Nazi defeat​

As Russian tanks, missiles and drones rumbled through Red Square on Friday for the annual Victory Day parade celebrating the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II, President Vladimir Putin was joined by at least two dozen world leaders, marking a victory of his own as a leader the West has sought to isolate.

After some subdued celebrations in past years with few tanks and almost no visiting leaders, Russia for this year’s 80th anniversary has welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the leaders of Slovakia, Serbia, Egypt, Vietnam, Venezuela and others from what Moscow calls “friendly countries” to its most solemn and emotional holiday.

In the intense propaganda blitz for Victory Day, Putin is projecting himself as a confident, global leader on course to defeat Ukraine, with the alliance between the United States and Europe fraying, Kyiv’s forces under pressure and negotiations to end the war largely on Russia’s terms.

“Truth and justice are on our side,” Putin said in Red Square. “The whole country, society, people support the participants of the special military operation,” referring to the war against Ukraine, and adding that their determination and bravery has “brought us only victory.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/09/russia-victory-day-putin-ukraine/

 

[Ordnael]

“Truth and justice are on our side,” Putin said in Red Square.

Also the blood of thousands of innocent civilians...Putin is so much like uncle Joseph on that regard!

 

[Gedemon]

Russia’s False Euphoria

Trump’s outreach to Putin has shifted Russian opinion—but failed to end the war.

www.foreignaffairs.com

Spoiler AI summary :

Putin’s Use of Victory Day for Political Messaging​

• Victory Day (May 9), commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, has been co-opted by President Vladimir Putin to bolster his image and legitimize his regime.
• The Immortal Regiment, a civil society initiative where citizens march with portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, has been brought under Kremlin control. In 2015, Putin personally led one of its columns through Moscow.
• Since the onset of the "special operation" in Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has framed the conflict as a continuation of the Great Patriotic War, portraying Ukraine and Europe as modern embodiments of past enemies like Napoleon and Hitler.

Shifts in Russian Public Opinion and International Perception​

• The return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has led the Kremlin to exclude the United States from its list of adversaries in its World War II analogies, focusing instead on Ukraine and Europe.
• Despite efforts to showcase international support during the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, Russia's global isolation remains evident.

The Illusion of National Unity​

• The Kremlin's narrative of a united Russia standing against Western aggression masks underlying societal divisions and economic challenges.
• The portrayal of the Ukraine conflict as a defensive war against the West serves to suppress dissent and rally nationalistic sentiments, but it doesn't reflect the complexities of public opinion within Russia.

It's impressive how Russia controls the public opinion, I remember when removing the US influence on Europe through NATO expansion was supposed to be the main reason behind Russia actions in Ukraine, and yet, suddenly...

For decades, Russians have regarded their superpower rival with a mixture of admiration and hatred, condescension and envy. Often, they have seen themselves as spiritually superior but materially inferior to their Yankee counterparts. Of course, the conspiracy-minded have long asserted that the United States is behind every significant event in the world, including Russia’s own problems, which are, according to this type of thinking, the result of covert U.S. policies. In Russian propaganda in recent years, it has been standard to hear references to “Anglo-American imperialism” or “Anglo-Saxons”—a derogatory Russian expression for the threatening dominance of the United States and the United Kingdom. Europe, in this design of hatred, was simply included under the general “West.” As a result, even in Putin’s time, Europe was treated in much the same way as the United States: if attitudes toward the United States worsened, Russians became more suspicious of the European Union.

Yet Trump’s victory and peacemaking efforts have upended the conventional thinking: now, Europe, including the United Kingdom, has become the principal source of evil, while the United States is good. Already in late February, during a visit to the Federal Security Service—the successor to his own alma mater, the KGB—Putin noted that contacts with the new administration in Washington “inspire certain hopes,” adding that “not everyone is happy to see Russian-U.S. contacts resume” and that the security services would need to be vigilant not to have the new “dialogue” be derailed. Continuing this line a few days later, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented that, contrary to long-standing Soviet and Russian doctrines, the United States has never been a warmonger toward Russia; Europe has always been the primary threat. “Over the past 500 years, all tragedies in the world originated in Europe or occurred owing to European policies,” he said.