Dhe speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 9 betrays helplessness. Two and a half months after the start of the war against Ukraine, he has nothing else to say about it than what he said at the beginning of it – as if time had stood still since then. In Putin’s speech during the military parade marking the anniversary of the end of World War II, the fighting in Ukraine was mentioned only in general phrases that could have been used on the first day of the war. He didn’t even mention the word Ukraine. In contrast, the list of historical heroes that Putin referred to was long – beginning with the 11th-century Kiev Grand Duke Yaroslav.
Apparently, the Kremlin has so far found neither a rhetorical nor a practical answer to the question of how to deal with the fact that the announced offensive in eastern Ukraine is not progressing well after the rapid advance on Kyiv failed. So, in public, Putin retreats to a static world view in which changes are not foreseen; the Russians would never give up “beliefs and traditional values, the customs of the ancestors”.
In view of the upheavals that Russia experienced in the 20th century, above all in view of the violent destruction of established social structures by the dictator Stalin, who had been rehabilitated by Putin, such formulas sound like a mockery of the painful history of their own country.
Putin has led Russia into a dead end with this war. It is doubtful whether he himself would still have the authority to reverse the trend. For while the regime can silence critics, it cannot undo the emotions it has stirred up with its wartime propaganda.
Putin must take this into account. In the circumstances, it’s relatively good news that he hasn’t made any of the big announcements of victory or mobilization that many have feared. That’s not a reason for the all-clear. Putin can attempt to break out of the impasse by escalating the war forward without a symbolically significant date.