Victory Day

May 9th this year was Victory Day, a day that commemorates the Allied victory over the Axis powers in Europe. Vladimir Putin recently brought back the tradition of holding a massive military parade that goes through Red Square. Civilians aren't allowed into Red Square, but the entire city center was completely locked down during the morning to accommodate the military parade and the march of veterans and pro-communists that follows. I watched the parade from Tverskaya Bulvar, which runs from the Kremlin to St. Petersburg. It was an impressive display of military power, including fighter pilots flying in formation and rockets capable of nuclear strikes halfway around the world. The parade is held in part to bolster national support and in part to send a metaphorical middle finger to the West, a not-so-subtle reminder that Russia has been and remains one of the world's great powers.



The militsia lined the streets hours before the parade began. There was obviously a great deal of fear that the parade could turn into a demonstration against the government.







There were 5 or 6 fly-bys where formations of helicopters and airplanes flew over the parade route, drawing raucous cheers from the crowd.











The parade featured about 10 or so different types of military vehicles, from your everyday tanks, to trucks carrying the massive TOPOL nuclear missiles. Of course this was all backed by the government. President Medvedev made sure that any potential "aggressors" understood the full extent of Russia's military capabilities. Russia's military recently underwent a massive overhaul to prepare it for more modern warfare, and the parade is a way to show off Russia's new toys to its neighbors.









Along with the military parade was a massive parade of what appeared to be mostly pro-communist groups, many made up of veterans, disillusioned with pension payments and eager to return to the relative ease of life during the days of the Soviet regime.





















I can't say I've taken many pictures of myself since I've arrived, so here's one of me standing on Tverskaya Bulvar with the Kremlin in the background. I look powerful, don't I?



A shot from Tverskaya Bulvar of the Kremlin, this time without me.



This is just a strange building I saw walking around the city center. I think it is a theater.



This is where Yuri Luzhkov resides. He is the mayor of Moscow. He is really one of the more powerful leaders in Russia, and probably one of the most influential local politicians in the world. He seems to have a pretty nice place here.



Here is a picture of Lubyanka, the notorious former headquarters of the KGB, perhaps ironically decorated in bright spring colors. Coincidentally, this is near where my wallet was stolen, so some interesting memories were conjured up here.



Here is a picture of the Bolshoy Theater. Not really. You can't see the actual structure, since it is being renovated, and is currently covered while the work is being done. But it looks something a lot like this.


Well, that was my morning. Hope this helps to make up for my lack of recent updates on the blog.