Rarely has commemoration been so expected beyond the borders of a country.
Russia performs final rehearsals this Saturday before the traditional May 9 military parade in Moscow celebrating the victory of the former Soviet empire over Nazi Germany.
On the 75th day of its offensive in Ukraine, which did not produce the expected effects, this parade should be a demonstration of the Kremlin's power.
The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed to be fighting "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine - including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is nevertheless Jewish -, multiplying the historical parallels between this military intervention and the Second World War.
A report by the Royal United Services Institute finds it "likely" that Russia will use May 9 to move from a "special military operation" to an actual official "war", or mobilize, but the Kremlin has denied it.
Restore the image of Russia
After failing at the gates of kyiv in the face of Ukrainian forces that were more motivated than expected, and better seasoned, in particular thanks to the weapons delivered by the West, the Russian general staff had to revise its objectives downwards by tightening the offensive on the east and the south of the country, hoping to nibble a little more Ukrainian territory.
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Putin brandishes (again) the nuclear threat
Decided by Stalin, the first victory parade took place in Moscow on June 24, 1945, with the German insignia captured.
Before 1965, the anniversary was barely marked, every five years.
The focus was on veterans.
Since 2008, Vladimir Putin has made it an occasion to mark the sacrifices of an entire generation - 26.6 million soldiers and inhabitants of the USSR died during the "Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", according to the Russian terminology - and to restore the image of post-communist Russia, which is deeply unequal.
It was in 2008 that for the first time, fighter planes took part in the military procession "From the point of view of national pride, the importance of this holiday cannot be overestimated", moreover declared Friday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Mystery around the famous “Satan-2”
Even more than in recent years, when the parade on May 9 has shown the power of the Russian army, new weapons could be presented Monday to the Russian population, and to the eyes of the world.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the "plane of the Apocalypse", an Ilyushin Il-80 specially designed to allow the Russian president to continue to pilot the country from the air in the event of nuclear war, will fly over the iconic square Red.
Several weapons that can fire nuclear missiles, such as the Iars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic system and the shorter-range Iskander system, will also be paraded.
It is not known whether the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, nicknamed "Satan-2", capable of carrying ten nuclear warheads 18,000 km away, will be part of the party.
The RS-24 Yars ballistic missile launcher with intercontinental thermonuclear warheads, this Saturday, during rehearsals.
AFP/Kirill Kudryavtsev
Vladimir Putin's speech is also eagerly awaited.
The Russian president, who has repeatedly brandished the nuclear threat, is expected to send messages to the West a few days after his army simulated the firing of nuclear-capable missiles on Wednesday in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
