Victory Day Marked

The end of WWII came about on 8 May 1945. As the Germans signed the Instrument of Surrender late in the day, already past midnight in Moscow, the Soviet Un-ion adopted 9 May as the day when they would celebrate ‘their victory’ in the conflict. Of course, the Russians now like to claim total responsibility for this, ignoring the contributions of other nations allied against Hitler’s forces, including the role played by various then-Soviet Republics. This, however, is a bigger conversation we don’t have space for in this small news section…

This year saw marked differences in the way this date was observed. While Russia wanted to show off their military capabilities in the centre of Moscow, no foreign leaders turned up to watch the parade this year. In Kyiv, the mood was different. Among the various events organised was a march of the families of servicemen and women who have been killed in Russia’s present war in the Donbas.
While one nation celebrated their war machines, another mourned their losses from that same machine.