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Leaders pay tribute to WWII
Russians |
The Associated Press
TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2005
| MOSCOW World leaders whose countries
faced off on the battlefields of World War II paid tribute Monday to
the conflict's fallen soldiers and millions of civilian dead,
joining President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Red Square for a
lavish military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the
Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
Fighter jets screamed
over the square, streaming smoke in the white, blue and red colors
of Russia's flag. Soldiers sang patriotic wartime songs and Putin
emphasized the former Soviet Union's enormous sacrifice. But he also
thanked its allies for their role and called for unity against new
threats.
Flanked by President
George W. Bush of the United States, President Jacques Chirac of
France and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany, Putin said his
country would never forget the debt owed to the tens of millions of
Soviet citizens who died to defeat Nazism.
"I bow low before all
veterans of the Great Patriotic War," said the Russian leader,
describing May 9, 1945 - celebrated in Russia as Victory Day - as "a
day of victory of good over evil, freedom over tyranny."
"The most cruel and
decisive events unfolded on the territory of the Soviet Union,"
Putin said, speaking from a stage that blocked direct views of
Lenin's mausoleum. "We know that the Soviet Union in those years
lost tens of millions of its citizens."
"It obligates us to
great responsibility," he said, adding that the war had forced the
nation to recognize the "precipice the world stood at that time -
what monstrous consequences violence and moral intolerance, genocide
and persecution of others could lead to."
While Russians have
often complained that the Soviet role was not fully appreciated in
the West, Putin said, "We have never divided the victory between
ours and theirs, and we will always remember the help of the
allies."
Under overcast skies,
white-haired veterans decked in medals, some waving red carnations,
rode across the cobblestone square in army green trucks as the
audience cheered.
The commemoration began
with four goose-stepping soldiers dressed in ceremonial green and
gold embroidered uniforms carrying a red flag with a hammer and
sickle - a reproduction of the banner of the Red Army's 150th Rifle
Division, which was flown from the Reichstag on May 1, 1945, after
the building in Berlin was seized.
The word "victory" was
emblazoned on the Kremlin wall in several languages, including those
of the vanquished.
Soldiers in modern and
World War II-era uniforms - infantrymen with metal helmets and red
flags topped by Soviet insignia, sappers with dogs, tank men with
black padded helmets - marched in tight formation, the slap of their
boots echoing across the cobblestones.
The Soviet Union lost an
estimated 27 million people during the conflict known in Russia as
the Great Patriotic War. Few families were untouched and the holiday
remains sacred across most of the former Soviet Union.
Putin called for unity
among the former Soviet republics and the world. "I'm convinced that
there's no alternative to our fraternity, our friendship with our
close neighbors," he said. "And Russia is prepared to build such
ties with the rest of the world, that are strengthened not only by
lessons of the past, but also by aspirations to our common future."
Putin also drew a
parallel between the war and the present threat of terrorism, saying
that today's generation was "obligated to remain true to the memory
of our fathers, obligated to build a world order based on security
and justice," he said, adding that nations should not "allow a
repeat of either cold or hot wars."
He celebrated the
postwar reconciliation between Russia and Germany.
Referring to mutual
accusations between Russia and the West of meddling in former Soviet
republics, Putin said Russia stood for the right of all nations to
choose their own way in the world.
"We build our policies
on the ideals of freedom and democracy, on the right of every state
to independently choose its own path of development," he said.
He and the other leaders
laid red carnations and a huge carpet of red roses at the Tomb of
the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin Wall to honor soldiers who
perished in World War II. They stood silently before the eternal
flame burning at the tomb.
Despite of the show of
unity, the celebrations in Moscow have angered Eastern European
nations that see World War II's end as the beginning of their
domination by the Soviets. The ceremony also cast a spotlight on the
precarious international position of Putin, who is facing increasing
U.S. criticism of his democratic record and is struggling in the
face of growing Western influence in the former Soviet republics.
The leaders of two
Baltic nations, Estonia and Lithuania, did not attend the ceremony,
angered by Putin's portrayal of the Soviet Union as a liberator
despite decades of occupation.
Bush pointedly balanced
his Moscow visit with a trip to the Baltic nation of Latvia, which
he called a young democracy, and a planned stop on Tuesday in
Georgia, where a new pro-Western leadership is seeking to minimize
Russian influence.
The situation was
awkward for Bush in Moscow, especially given his seat of honor in a
reviewing stand next to Lenin's tomb to watch goose-stepping
soldiers and flags adorned with the Soviet hammer-and-sickle that
recalled days of Communist might.
Russia's 60th
anniversary celebration of its World War II victory with other
Allied forces over Nazi Germany offered only a one-sided, rosy
picture of the Soviet Union's war legacy and has been accompanied by
increased nostalgia for its wartime leader, Josef Stalin.
That poses some
difficulty for a U.S. president who has made the spread of democracy
the foreign policy cause of his second term. Nonetheless, as Putin's
grand World War II victory party went forward, the two put aside
their public sniping over postwar Soviet domination and democratic
backsliding in Russia.
After discussions and
dinner the evening before, the two smiled broadly when Bush arrived
for the parade. As Bush lowered his umbrella, despite the rain, for
a snapshot, Putin laughed and did the same. Putin reserved the seat
next to him for Bush - whom he called his guest of "special
importance" above all others.
Tight security measures
on Monday closed the heart of the Russian capital to ordinary
citizens and antiaircraft batteries were on alert to protect the
Russian capital's airspace. Moscow's security has been a matter of
concern since attacks by Chechen terrorists over the past three
years, including the seizure of hundreds of hostages at a Moscow
theater in 2002.
Ordinary Russians were
urged to gather in their homes, parks and public squares on the
holiday. Even as they subjected passers-by to document checks,
Moscow's police officers had been given instructions to deal with
drunks and juvenile delinquents with a smile.
There were tears, as
well. Veterans desperate to join the parade were turned down by
security guards manning metal detectors around Red Square.
"I was badly wounded in
battle, fighting for the Soviet motherland. Don't I deserve the
right to be here?" said Pyotr Komarov, 79, who had served in an
infantry unit during the war and who traveled from Ukraine to attend
the celebration on Monday. "I didn't need an invitation to go to the
front."
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