Parade of convenience – Newspaper Kommersant No. 66 (7511) dated 04/17/2023

Last week, in several regions located near the border with Ukraine (in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, as well as in the Crimea), they announced the cancellation of traditional parades dedicated to Victory Day. Local authorities explained this decision with security considerations – “so as not to provoke the enemy.” However, in other “front-line” regions they are not in a hurry to cancel the parades, and in other regions of the Russian Federation they are completely determined to hold them.

The governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov was the first to announce the cancellation of the military parade. On April 5, during a live broadcast on VKontakte, he declaredthat the event was decided not to be held, “so as not to provoke the enemy with a large accumulation of equipment and military personnel in the center of Belgorod.” At the same time, the festive fireworks and the procession of the Immortal Regiment are still in the plans, Mr. Gladkov added: “We will consider this issue, as well as the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Prokhorov, at the next meeting of the operational headquarters.”

Last year, the parade in honor of the Victory Day in the Belgorod region also did not take place, although then the authorities hoped to hold the event to the last: the decision to cancel it was made just a few days before the holiday date. At the same time, the special operation did not interfere with the parade in neighboring regions. For example, for the first time after a two-year break caused by the coronavirus epidemic, the military personnel of the Western Military District, as well as the calculations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Federal Penitentiary Service and other law enforcement agencies, marched along the streets of Kursk.

This year the situation has changed. On April 10, the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said that after a meeting “with federal colleagues who ensure the security of the region,” it was decided not to hold a military parade. “The safety of fellow countrymen is a priority,” Mr. Starovoit wrote in Telegram. Next, on April 12, a similar solution said the head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, and, according to him, not only the military parade in honor of May 9, but also the procession of the Immortal Regiment and even festive demonstrations on May 1 were canceled on the peninsula.

A source in the Crimean government explained to Kommersant that the authorities of the region decided not to risk the lives of citizens against the backdrop of daily statements from Kyiv about a counteroffensive and a rather high risk of sabotage.

However, in Sevastopol, which is regularly attacked by Ukrainian drones, they were quick to say that nothing has been canceled so far. “Now consultations are underway with the Ministry of Defense, the decision to hold a parade in Sevastopol is the prerogative of the military department,” wrote the governor of the hero city, Mikhail Razvozhaev, on Telegram.

The Kremlin left this issue to the discretion of the regional authorities. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 12 that the main parade on Red Square was “prepared and planned,” and everything related to holding similar events in the constituent entities “is the prerogative of the heads of regions.” “Naturally, they make an appropriate decision based on the interests of ensuring the safety of citizens. This is the main and only priority,” Mr. Peskov summed up.

Parades are not planned in the new territories for obvious reasons. “Given that we are in the conditions of the decree on martial law, mass events will not be held precisely in organizational terms for the purpose of additional security. We believe that today it is not entirely expedient and unsafe,” said, for example, Acting Governor of the Kherson region Volodymyr Saldo on the air of the Tavria TV channel.

At the same time, in other “front-line” regions where a “medium response level” has been introduced (in addition to Crimea, Sevastopol, Belgorod and Kursk regions, it operates in the Krasnodar Territory, Bryansk, Voronezh and Rostov regions), they are in no hurry to cancel parades.

“The decision will be made based on the recommendations of law enforcement agencies,” Kommersant was told in the government of the Bryansk region. Recallthat over the past two months the region has been subjected to several attacks by Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

In the Voronezh region, all events in honor of May 9 are being prepared as planned and will be carried out in compliance with “increased security” measures, Kommersant was told in the regional government. On April 11, the government of the Rostov region held a meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation of celebrations, where, among other things, it was about holding military parades in Rostov-on-Don and Novocherkassk. The press service of the administration of the Krasnodar Territory refrained from commenting.

In regions more distant from the zone of the special operation, the possibility of canceling military parades is not even considered. For example, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the question is now being worked out, which equipment will take part in the solemn event. Both the traditional parade and the traditional fireworks are planned in the Stavropol Territory. “Nevertheless, we have a slightly different situation in the region than those of those entities that have decided to cancel the parades,” Mikhail Isaev, speaker of the Saratov Regional Duma, told Kommersant. “I consider it right and necessary to demonstrate to the people of Saratov and the whole world the potential of our troops.”

“In the Belgorod and Kursk regions, the situation is different: they canceled the celebrations on the recommendation of the relevant authorities,” Vadim Supikov, chairman of the legislative assembly of the Penza region, explained to Kommersant.

Kommersant was also told about planned preparations for parades in Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Amur regions, in Tuva and Altai, in Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories. And the vice-governor of the Ulyanovsk region, Alexander Korobko, told Kommersant that “I’m almost sure that there will be a parade,” but other formats have not yet been ruled out: “This week there will be a regular meeting of the Pobeda committee, at which a final decision will be made.” .

Andrey Prakh, corset “Kommersant”