In Moscow's Shadows 247: Victory Day Without The Victory
5/9/202652 min
No tanks, great camera work. Victory Day is supposed to be Russia’s most unshakeable story, the moment when the state proves its strength, its allies, and its confidence on Red Square. Yet watching this year’s parade, I can’t escape the sense that the symbolism is working harder than the reality: fewer troops, no heavy hardware in Moscow, and security concerns hanging over the whole performance.
In the rest of the podcast, I look at a leaked report on spinning peace and wonder if it part of an attempt to lobby Putin indirectly, the appointment of a new commander of Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Chaiko, and that (to me, pretty dodgy) 'European intelligence report' that has caused such a storm.
The bigger point is simple and uncomfortable: disinformation and psychological warfare are part of how this conflict is fought, and they thrive on our appetite for certainty.
The Kyiv Independent report I mentioned is here.
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First 90 secondsMark Galeotti· Host0:00
Today, Saturday the 9th of May, is Victory Day in the Russian calendar. But I'm not so sure it really feels like it. [upbeat music] Hello, I'm Mark Galeotti, and welcome to my View of Russia in Moscow Shadows. This podcast of varying length, frequency, and format, yet always reassuringly low production values, is supported by generous and perspicacious patrons like you, and also by the crisis exercise software company, Conductor. No, not a permanent change to the opening music. I just thought because I was recording this on Saturday the 9th of May, because I'm traveling tomorrow, well, I thought therefore it was worth swapping out the usual Arise, Ye Russian People, with the classic Den Pobedy, Victory Day, in this wonderfully overblown style. Anyway, this podcast is gonna be about, well, victories celebrated and claimed, but also as a subtext about the difficulty in knowing the truth these days, unfortunately. But anyway, let's start, of course,