The word “victory” is everywhere in Moscow today.
It is projected from giant LED screens along major intersections and highways and written on red flags fluttering in the wind. It is a prominent place in an exhibition of Western weapons destroyed on Ukrainian battlefields and brought to Moscow as war trophies on display in… where else? — Victory Park.
Victory is precisely the message that President Vladimir V. Putin, 71, has tried to project as he has been feted with pomp and pageantry after another electoral success, while his army rampages through Ukrainian villages in a stunning new offensive in the northeast.
“Together we will be victorious!” Putin said at his inauguration last week after securing a fifth term as president. Two days later, the country celebrated Victory Day, Russia’s most important holiday, commemorating the Soviet contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
During the first year of the invasion, many Russians felt shocked and embarrassed by the war; Hundreds of thousands left the country. During the second year, they worried about a possible second wave of mobilization.
But with the war now in its third year, many Russians appear to have learned to accept it, interviews over the past week and recent polls show. And “victory” is easy to sell in Putin’s Russia.
Western sanctions have caused little economic hardship. Military news from Ukraine is increasingly positive. Yes, soldiers still return in coffins, but mostly to families in the hinterland, not among Moscow’s elite. And for many, the deaths only reinforce the idea, pushed by state media and relentlessly hammered home by Putin, that Russia faces an existential threat from the West.
“We can feel that victory is near,” said Andrei, 43, who said he traveled to Moscow for the May 9 celebrations from the Chita region, nearly 3,000 miles from the capital.
Like others interviewed for this article, he declined to provide his last name, indicating an apparent distrust of Western media.
He was among those who braved the cold and even snow to visit the collection of recently captured Western military equipment. (Ukraine also shows destroyed Russian tanks in central kyiv.) But the bold display in Moscow, with flags on equipment showing which countries donated them to Ukraine, fits with Russia’s narrative that it is fighting the entire developed world and winning.
“When you see all this and all these flags, it becomes clear that the whole world is supplying weapons and you know that a world war is going on,” Andrei said. “It’s Russia against the whole world, as always.”
Ivan, another visitor to Victory Park, waited his turn to pose in front of the rusted and charred hull of the German Leopard tank, flashing a smile and giving a thumbs up as his friend photographed him. People jostled for space next to an equally destroyed American-made M1 Abrams tank.
“There has been a lot of talk about these Abrams, these Leopards, and what is the result?” said Ivan, 26.
“They’re all standing here, we look at them, we see what condition they’re in. This is great!” He smiled.
The bravado exhibited by Russians like Andrei and Ivan this month reflects Putin’s confident stance as he leads Russia beyond economic challenges and toward greater battlefield advantage in Ukraine.
His inauguration included a church service in which he was blessed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill I, who expressed his hope that the president would remain in power until “the end of the century.”
According to the Levada Center, an independent polling institution, about 75 percent of Russians profess support for their military’s actions in Ukraine. (About a quarter of the population is against the war, the survey and other research shows, but protests are effectively banned and repression is so intense that many people are afraid to acknowledge or share anti-war or anti-war content. online government).
Thousands of people who fled Russia have returned. Their lives have adapted to the new normal and, in fact, have changed less than Westerners might expect.
“It’s what, the thirteenth package of sanctions they’re imposing?” Ivan said, laughing. “So far we haven’t felt anything.”
Robots built by Yandex, the Russian version of Google, can be seen roaming the sidewalks of Moscow making deliveries. Inflation is under control, at least for now. According to a Forbes report last month, the number of billionaires in Moscow (measured in US dollars) increased so much that the city rose four places in the world ranking, behind only New York City.
“Most of the brands that supposedly left Russia haven’t gone anywhere,” Andrei said, adding that he and his daughter planned to have lunch at a rebranded KFC. What had changed, he said, is that “the consolidation of society has occurred.” about the reasons for the war, as well as about the conservative social values that Putin is promoting.
Putin and others trumpeted that apparent cohesion when the official results of their predetermined election victory were announced in March, with a record 88 percent of the vote going to the incumbent president, a figure that Western democracies denounced as a sham.
“Russia is such a complicated and multiethnic country that it takes more than one mandate to understand and govern it,” said Oleg V. Panchurin, 32, a veteran of the war in Ukraine.
“If he is going to be President Putin, then I would be happy if he served 10 terms,” said Panchurin, who said he had recently been injured near Zaporizhzhia by a Ukrainian drone.
Some civilians interviewed said they were glad the president had taken a hardline conservative position that promoted traditional family values.
Zhenya, 36, and her girlfriend, Masha, expressed gratitude that the government had “finally handled the LGBTQ issue,” by banning what she called the “LGBTQ movement.” The couple were attending a 1940s-themed Victory Day celebration in a park in central Moscow, where participants fox-trotted and danced a waltz while a live military band played.
With no one who can credibly replace him, the prospect of Putin remaining in power as long as he is alive seems increasingly possible for ordinary Russians, said Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Moscow-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.
“Everyone understands that this is for a long time,” he said. “The longer he is in power, the more fear there will be about who will be next, who will be worse.”
“We are approaching a scenario where we could see the Stalin effect, when, after his death, people cried because they did not know how to live,” Kolesnikov added.
Russians who oppose the government say they increasingly fear they will have to wait for Putin’s death for anything to change.
“I feel a very strong sense of hopelessness,” said Yulia, 48, a teacher who was visiting the grave of Aleksei A. Navalny, the opposition politician, in southeastern Moscow. Navalny, who died in prison in an Arctic penal colony in February, had long been considered Putin’s only possible rival. Yulia refused to use her last name for fear of possible repercussions.
“I don’t see a way out of this,” he said.
Yulia’s son Pavel said: “We are sure that everything depends on the death of a person in a certain place.” Her mother silenced him when she noticed the uniformed forces of the Russian National Guard. that was close; Even after he is dead, the government is closely monitoring Navalny. Still, there was a constant flow of visitors to the tomb.
On the other side of Moscow, mourners were still coming to pay their respects to the 145 victims of the March 22 terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall, one of the deadliest in Europe in the last decade. Wreaths, stuffed animals and photographs of the victims were placed near the destroyed concert hall.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and U.S. officials blamed the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, an offshoot of the group. Still, the Kremlin has tried to shift the blame to Ukraine and the West.
A woman who declined to give her name said she was sure the West was behind it, even though the United States had warned Moscow of an imminent attack. According to the Levada Center, half of respondents believe Ukraine was behind the attack, and nearly 40 percent said Western intelligence services were involved.
Vladimir, 26, visiting the makeshift memorial for the first time, said he did not blame the Kremlin for not heeding the warnings.
“I want the terrorists to be destroyed,” said Vladimir, a supermarket employee. But the president, he said, was doing a great job. “He works very hard”.
“May God keep him alive and healthy,” he said. “If, God forbid, Putin dies, what will happen to our country?”
Anastasia Kharchenko contributed reporting from Moscow and Alina Lobzina From london.