The Russian soldiers who occupied Bakhmut in the east of Ukraine seemed enthusiastic about the 80th birthday of Victory Day, the Russian holiday that marks the surrender of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
The soldiers posted videos on social media, verified by the New York Times, of self -hanging colorful posters and banners with messages in Russian as ‘Happy Victory Day’. One poster said “immortal regiment” and showed photos of veterans from the Soviet Union who fought in the war. Others proclaimed “pride of the victory 1941-1945” and “80 years of the big victory.” One video showed the red flag of the Soviet Union with its hammer and sickle.
But hardly anyone lives in Bakhmut anymore. It is a gray bombed ghost city, once the home of around 70,000 people. In Bakhmut, and other cities in the Russian-occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine, the holiday on Friday Will be a muted affair, with small concerts and parades, sometimes against a background of debris.
A senior Russian intelligence officer with the call name Amur, of the 6th motorized gun division of the southern group, the Tass news agency In mid-April his Victory Day posters for Bakhmut had ordered with the help of the pro-Russian governor of the region.
“This city was already liberated,” he told Tass. “It’s a Russian city.”
In Russia, Victory Day is full of symbolism, especially this year when President Vladimir V. Putin tries to show that his Russia is the heir of the Soviet Union in his heir and will soon defeat Ukraine.
Plans require a gigantic military show in Moscow for more than two dozen world leaders.
For comparison, if social media is a guide, Victory Day parties in the occupied territories will be much more modest, although widespread. They include hanging posters and paintings, and occasionally a concert or quickie parade. Denis Pushilin, the leader appointed by Moscow in the Russia component of the Donetsk region, including Bakhmut–he said that there are more than 57,000 “memorial, festive and other events” for several months to celebrate the holidays.
But with these events, Mr. Putin try to project the world that these areas are already his.
The peace plan that was raised by the United States in April would freeze the conflict near the current front lines. Below that, Bakhmut, as it is, and many other cities may never be part of Ukraine again. Russia now occupies almost 20 percent of Ukraine.
In the run-up to Victory Day, Mr Putin presented a three-day ceasefire. During the night on Wednesday, fighting and air bombing continued along the front line, but long-distance rocket and drone attacks deeper in Ukraine came to a halt, according to the Ukrainian army.
To celebrate the victory day in the occupied city of Melitopol, southwest of Bakhmut, a New bell tower was inaugurated in the church of the Holy Great Martyr George in April the victor. A Two -storey high poster was also hung on the side of a house, with the logo of the 80th birthday and a soldier with a gun.
Oleksandr, who fled Melitopol but only wanted to use his first name because most of his family still lived there, said the images that made him angry.
“I have seen how my city is being distorted,” he said. “It’s just sad that all they are proud of, wins a war 80 years ago. That is all they have to show. And now they impose this distorted reality to those who still stay.”
The mayor of Sevastopol, in De Krim, seized by Russia in 2014, canceled a planned parade for Victory Day for safety reasons. Nevertheless, the city is planning to hold a patriotic event and concert. This week the city also held a fast “personal parade” for two old veterans. They received anniversary medals.
The New York Times verified the location of the videos In Bakhmut of the facades of the nearby buildings, windows and road layouts that matched satellite images and file images. The Times could not verify the date of the videos, but they were placed on Russian social media channels in April.
At one point a soldier walked around in one video, to show of the posters. “We also have large billboards,” he said. “Brings the victory closer. Coser. Of course the victory will be of us. There is no doubt about it.”
He didn’t seem to talk about a war of 80 years ago.
After more than nine months of brutal fights in May 2023, Russian troops conquered Bakhmut. In the videos it seems to be a broken skin of a city where a house with a window is a deviation. Curved street plates and garbage can in the streets.
“This is horrible – it’s like dancing on bones,” said Olena Bukreieva, 60, a radiologist who once worked in the hospital in Bakhmut and watched the videos. “They have completely erased it. There is no building that is intact. And now they are flags and banners paint – it is a mockery of the people, everything. It is unbearable to look.”
Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed report from KYIV, Ukraine; Yurii shyvala from LVIV, Ukraine; And Jiawei Wang from Seoul.
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