Not to be outdone by the celebration of VE Day across Western Europe yesterday, Vladimir Putin this morning staged his own ‘biggest ever’ Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. Over the course of Putin’s rule, the annual celebration of 9 May has gradually morphed from a solemn commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany to being a key ideological cornerstone of his regime. Never one to miss a chance to send a message to Russia’s foreign adversaries, today’s 80th anniversary parade across Red Square – Putin’s 25th – was more a neat showcase of the President’s own militaristic and jingoistic ambitions than a tribute to the country’s past sacrifices.

Everything associated with the preparations for today’s event was a degree of magnitude bigger than in previous years. A three-day ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, announced by Putin last month to honour the occasion, began yesterday. Unsurprisingly, the Russian army is already reported to have broken it, according to Ukrainian authorities. 

In the centre of Red Square, a huge viewing platform had been erected next to, and over the top of Lenin’s tomb – quite the statement given the macabre reverence in which the site is usually held by the Kremlin.