Ukraine war in photos: Victory Day — in Russia and beyond

As Grid has reported, it is one of the most important dates on the Russian calendar — May 9, the day on which the Russians (and the Soviets before them, until 1991) mark the military victory over Nazi Germany. This year there had been much anticipation — and speculation — as to what Vladimir Putin might say and do on this edition of the holiday, with a large-scale war underway and precious few “victories” on offer for the Russian military to date.

We get at that end of the story elsewhere on the site. Here, in today’s curation of photographs, is a look at the spectacle of Victory Day in 2022.

The photos are from Red Square, where Putin honored Russian soldiers past and present, vilified NATO and the West, and — repeating his oft-stated lie — claimed the Ukraine invasion was needed to defeat “Nazis” in that country. But we also note how “Victory Day” has been marked in other capitals: in Warsaw, an attack on Russia’s Ambassador to Poland; in Riga, a photography exhibition honoring Ukrainian victims in the current war; and in Berlin, where pro- and anti-Russian protestors both gathered to mark the day. After all it was in Germany, 77 years ago, that Soviet and U.S. forces met, cementing the bitterly-fought victory over Nazism. Russian and American forces are today about as far from that comity as can be imagined.