Putin shows military might at WWII parade ahead of key vote

Bloomberg

President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s military strength on display on Wednesday in a parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the World War II defeat of Nazi Germany, braving the coronavirus pandemic ahead of a referendum that may allow him to rule until 2036.
The spread of the virus forced Putin to delay his annual May 9 Victory Day celebration on Moscow’s Red Square, which this year featured 14,000 troops and weaponry including tanks, air-defense systems and nuclear-missile launchers, as well as a fly-past by Russia’s air force. Several invited leaders stayed away because of the continuing threat from Covid-19. “We will always remember that it was the Soviet people who crushed Nazism,” Putin said. “We can’t even imagine what the world would have become if the Red Army hadn’t come to its defense.”
The commemoration of what’s known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, in which
27 million citizens of the Soviet Union died, is traditionally an opportunity to rouse the nation. It took place a week before the July 1 referendum on constitutional changes backed by the Kremlin. They include a measure that would allow Putin to seek two more six-year terms once the current one, his fourth, ends in 2024. Putin, 67, has said the changes endorsed by Russia’s parliament and Constitutional Court will only take effect if a majority of people support them in the referendum. While there’s little doubt the Kremlin will secure approval for the measures, officials are eager to ensure a high turnout for the vote.
Putin has attached particular importance to this year’s anniversary, inviting leaders of Western wartime allies to join him in Moscow even as they continue to sanction Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron accepted Putin’s invitation to attend on May 9 before the pandemic upended Russia’s plans.
While Putin has said Russia passed the peak of the epidemic, the country is still reporting more than 7,000 new daily infections, though new cases in Moscow declined to about 800 on Wednesday from some 1,000 in recent days. About 30 cities have either suspended plans to stage local WWII parades or banned spectators, citing risks to public health.
Only 10 foreign leaders joined Putin for the parade, mostly from ex-Soviet states as well as the heads of the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic cancelled plans to come at the last minute, saying the presidential plane had broken down, and Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov skipped the parade despite being in Moscow after two members of his delegation tested positive for the virus, Russian state news service RIA Novosti reported.