Military expert Alexei Melnik noted that holding parades in the face of the Russian military’s failures in Ukraine may cause Russian citizens to doubt that “everything is going according to plan”.
The Russian authorities in the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions decided to cancel the military parade scheduled for May 9. This step is probably due to the fact that the demonstration of the military strength of the Russian army against the backdrop of failures in Ukraine will not cause “necessary” feelings among Russian citizens. This assumption was expressed on April 18 by military expert Alexei Melnik, coordinator of international projects of the Razumkov Center, in an interview with Obozrevatel.
“Against the background of defeats or lack of progress in Ukraine, doubts that everything is going according to plan, this sword swing now causes completely different emotions,” said the expert.
According to Melnik, this tool previously held by the Kremlin worked effectively for mobilization. But now Russia found itself in such a situation that it had to refuse to hold parades. And although this initiative comes from the regional authorities, parades will be held regardless, if the appropriate command comes from Moscow.
“At the same time, if the Kremlin had ordered them to hold them, they would not have objected. Russia is Soviet Union 2.0. If there is a team, they parade even in the face of a real enemy.” There is a threat of attack on these pillars,” Melnik stressed.
In addition, residents were forcibly evicted from dozens of settlements, for example, due to threats of shelling in the Belgorod region. In this regard, the territory of the Russian Federation is, in fact, a war zone, extending deep into the range of Ukrainian artillery. Therefore, Melnik summed up that if a strike were held on military installations on May 9, the parade would not look festive.
Recall that the governor of the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that on April 6 there may not be a parade in Belgorod in honor of May 9. According to him, the authorities “will not provoke the enemy and put people at risk.”
On the night of April 16-17, a large-scale fire broke out in two civilian facilities in Belgorod. According to local officials, a substation in the city caught fire, leaving some residents without electricity as a result.
Source: Focus
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