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On Saturday, Russians mark the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. But for the first time in nearly 20 years, the military parade on Red Square will be scaled down, fearing Ukrainian drone attacks - that, despite a pledge by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to strike the parade after a three-day ceasefire was brokered at the last minute by President Trump. From Moscow, NPR's Charles Maynes reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF JETS FLYING OVERHEAD)
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Russian jets taking practice runs over the skies of Moscow earlier this week, the lone display of military hardware in a parade that will feature troops but no tanks or missiles on Red Square out of fear of Ukrainian attacks.
VIKTORIA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Viktoria, a schoolteacher who declined to give her last name out of fear of government reprisals, says Ukraine's apparent ability to interrupt the proceedings is the latest sign it's past for this war to end.
VIKTORIA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: "All I want is peace and for the leaders of all countries to come to some kind of agreement," she tells me, "because I have friends in Ukraine and Europe. This war has gone on long enough."
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PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: For more than four years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed Russian society is consolidated around a war effort that echoes the Soviets' own battles against fascist Germany. Yet, with his special military operation in Ukraine now grinding on longer than the war against Hitler that inspired it, Russian unity looks increasingly fragmented. In fact, cracks are everywhere.
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DMITRY STESHIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Over the airwaves, nationalists and pro-war figures openly talk of a conflict that may be unwinnable.
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STESHIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: "It's a stalemate. Ukraine can't put Russia on our knees with their attacks, and neither can we do that to them," says Dmitry Steshin, a Russian war correspondent speaking recently on the pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station. Meanwhile, leading academics warn of an economy headed for ruin.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBERT NIGMATULIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Robert Nigmatulin, a high-ranking member of Russia's Academy of Sciences, was met with applause when he railed against the government's destructive wartime economic policies at a Moscow business forum last month. Even pro-Kremlin social media influencers have been using their platforms to argue Russian society is teetering on edge.
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VICTORIA BONYA: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Victoria Bonya, a celebrity blogger, garnered more than a million of - what else, but - likes when she posted a recent video warning President Putin was dangerously out of touch with the problems facing ordinary Russians.
ABBAS GALYAMOV: You cannot deny reality till the end of times. You can do it only until certain moment.
MAYNES: That's Abbas Galyamov, a former speech writer for the Russian president. He's now a Kremlin critic in exile. Galyamov points to state polls that show growing disillusionment with Putin and the war. He says frustration is building ever since last year when Putin rejected efforts by President Trump to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict on what seemed to many like the most generous of terms to Moscow.
GALYAMOV: The elites and general population - they're irritated because Putin turned out to be so stubborn. He's unable to come to terms, even with such loyal people as Trump.
MAYNES: The Kremlin continues to insist Russia will meet its military objectives in Ukraine, even if that means taking unpopular measures at home.
DMITRY PESKOV: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: Citing the persistent threat of Ukrainian drones, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that includes an internet clampdown. Rolling blackouts brought Russia's 21st century digital economy to a temporary halt earlier this week. They're expected to again on Saturday when mobile internet services go dark and Russia's scaled-back parade gets underway. Charles Maynes, NPR News, Moscow.
(SOUNDBITE OF EMOTIONAL ORANGES SONG, "TALK ABOUT US (FEAT. ISAIAH FALLS)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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