That is according to a latest the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.
According to the update, "on 18 April 2023, Russian state media announced the cancellation of this year’s Immortal Regiment ‘Great Patriotic War’ remembrance marches on ‘safety’ grounds." "In reality, the authorities were highly likely concerned that participants would highlight the scope of recent Russian losses," the update reads.
Read more: 423 Days of russia-Ukraine War – russian Casualties In Ukraine
The U.K. Defense Intelligence informs that this happened after "Wagner group owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, publicly questioning whether there are actually any “Nazis” in Ukraine, going against Russia’s justification for the war." Meanwhile, the authorities in russia "have continued attempts to unify the Russian public around polarising myths about the 1940s.”
In particular, on 12 April 2023, state news agency RIA Novosti reported “unique” documents from FSB archives, implicating the Nazis in the murder of 22,000 Polish nationals in the Katyn Massacre of 1940.
"In reality, FSB’s predecessor agency, the NKVD, was responsible. Russia’s State Duma officially condemned Joseph Stalin for ordering the killings in 2010," the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence update states.
The Immortal Regiment is an annual event at which Russians - and not only them - commemorate the relatives who fought in the Great Patriotic War, 1941–1945. As a powerful large-scale movement, centered on the politicized topic of war, it could not be left unattended by russia's authority. Undermining such initiative would be very expensive for Kremlin in terms of the stability and loyalty of population.
Moreover, IR could be easily fit in the framework of “defeating fascism” paradigm, convenient for Moscow that frequently slaps a label of “fascist” on the foreign policies it does not like — and often claims that as it had defeated it once, it can be done again. So from 2015 “The Immortal Regiment of Russia” has been enjoyed heavy support on behalf of the Kremlin. Having established control over the movement and securing its convenience, russian government started widely using it for political purposes.
At home they mostly relate to image: highest ranking officials, including V.Putin himself, took part in the annual march, gaining approval points for commemorating the tragedy.
The IR, however, is not limited to Russia. It has been exported to other countries and was a power tool for russia to influence on political opinion in foreign countries especially post soviet Ones.
As Defense Express reported earlier, the UK Defense Intelligence Said There Was an "Internecine Struggle" Between russia's Military Over Approaches to the War in Ukraine. We also wrote that russia Continued to Spend Significant Resources for Little Success.
Read more: In Russia, the Saint Petersburg Submarine was Decommissioned, While Being in the Fleet Only for Two Years, Although it Was Built for Decades
