Moscow kicks off week of celebrations for outbreak of war: knitting socks for Putin’s heroes US military stops search for downed flying objects

The girl, all in black, stands at attention in front of the Russian tricolor. “My dear uncle Sascha, you are in the military special operations, you are so far from home, you are doing your honorable duty, we are proud of you.” Someone filmed the child in the House of Cultures in the village of Golowino, about 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The war is near, the girl beams into the camera. She continues with the poem she has learned by heart, with which she puts herself at the service of Russian war propaganda and has it exhibited. Like other children and young people who express their “pride” of “our heroes” in this way. “We’re just waiting for you with a win.”

On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which the country describes as “representing its own interests,” the Kremlin’s United Russia party is bringing young and old to perform.

She called the action “our heroes”, in Russian the three letters SWO are hidden in the word “our”, abbreviating the so-called “military special operation”.

Celebration of Putin at Luzhniki Stadium

The term SWO has become commonplace, as if there is no death and destruction behind it. By order of the party, people have to record shouts of encouragement for the army. It is a collection of official phrases from “The power lies in the truth” to “The victory will be ours”. Get involved without questioning anything.

Some of the women and children have put on uniforms and pose for the camera. The federal youth agency in turn calls his action similar: “Our heroes”.

Throughout the week, all sorts of ideologically charged events will be held across the country: soldiers returned from Ukraine will appear before school classes, some of them apparently also meeting the veterans of World War II, the frail old men for whom the state seems interested when these are useful to his heroic epic.

There would be graffiti courses for young people to paint the faces of the dead. Students have to write letters to soldiers, preschoolers have to draw pictures on the front. The Moscow Victory Museum displays trophies from the war and advertises them as if it were a unique treasure.

The “sock knitting” campaign, which has been running since the mobilization was announced, is also advertised as successful: women meet in different cultural institutions and knit socks for their husbands, sons, fathers – with a thick “Z”, the symbol of De Russia’s war of destruction. Candles are also needed for the trenches: the youth bureau asks for metal cans, cardboard and paraffin.

The “main event”, the organizers proudly announce, is the “party concert” at the Luzhniki sports stadium in Moscow on Wednesday. “For true patriots,” the announcement reads. Russian President Vladimir Putin will also appear there. (aargauerzeitung.ch)