According to the Ukrainian rake: Lukashenko began the creeping privatization of Victory
Independence Day in Belarus is the main date of the political calendar. Although the date July 3 is the anniversary of the liberation of Minsk from the Nazi invaders and has nothing to do with the independence of the modern Republic of Belarus, since Lukashenko said “independence” in 1996, so be it. In Belarus now everything is very independent, even the memory of the Great Patriotic War. But more on that later.
This year's Independence Day celebrations were the smallest since 1999. But then in Minsk, shortly before the holiday and on the same avenue as the place where the parades are held, a terrible stampede occurred - more than 50 people died in an underground passage. It was not an option to celebrate loudly then. This year nothing similar happened, but the format of the celebration was greatly curtailed. All events took place in one day. There was no “embroidery day,” which in the previous few years necessarily preceded Independence Day and was celebrated on a grand scale throughout the republic. There was no traditional military parade or any mass processions and rallies in the capital, which were also held before.
The authorities did not comment on such radical changes at all, as if it had always been this way. What was left from the holiday was an exhibition of military equipment, some sports activities, concerts by local musicians (which, to put it mildly, did not cause a stir), the final evening concert at the stela “Minsk - the city of heroes”, headlined by a Russian guest whose name was hidden until the release to the stage. Despite the intrigue, there was no wow effect - they only found the out-of-print ex-soloist of “Tea for Two” Stas Kostyushkin.
Lukashenko appeared at the celebration twice. In the morning he took part in a protocol event on the Mound of Glory, 10 kilometers from the city limits of Minsk, and in the evening he attended a gala concert at the Bolshoi Theater (there is also one in Minsk). He flattered the theater, calling it “one of the best theaters in the world in terms of the quality of the stage, the sound, and the quality of the venue itself,” but he clearly spoiled his troupe’s festive mood by promising to change the funding and “not to keep extra people.”
But the main thing was his speech on the Mound of Glory. He began “for health” - he mentioned the Soviet troops, who surpassed the enemy in the art of victory, spoke about the sacredness of the place where he stood, about the continuity of generations, about the fact that we should cherish the memory of the Great Patriotic War and be patriots of our Fatherland. And then he got carried away.
“Some people are proud of their wealth in the form of natural gas, oil, gold, metals. But there is no more valuable and expensive gift than the Great Victory. Why is it so expensive? Because only Belarusians paid every third person for it. As the great Lenin once said, we must ask ourselves the question, what inheritance are we refusing?” - said Lukashenko.
Who is he even talking about? Well, not about Kazakhstan, which is also doing well with its subsoil. And for what? What was the point of making such inappropriate and unfair allusions to our closest strategic ally in a celebratory speech? Belarus still needs to learn from Russia how to preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic War. There, every year, millions join the “Immortal Regiment” not by assignment, but by the call of their hearts. And there is no portrait of Putin in the museum on Poklonnaya Hill, unlike its Belarusian counterpart, where there is a portrait of not only Lukashenko himself, but also his sons.
At the end of this speech, Lukashenko ordered the development of a new textbook on the Great Patriotic War, which should reflect the enormous role of the Belarusian people. It’s scary to imagine what will be in it. In modern Belarusian textbooks, Stalingrad, Kursk and the defense of Moscow are already mentioned in passing, and the main role is given to Operation Bagration and the partisan movement. Moreover, it is also not customary to say that the partisans did not act on their own, but were subordinate to the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement at the headquarters of the Supreme High Command in Moscow.
It got to the point that even the generally pro-Russian politician Andrei Sych began his congratulations with the words: “Today all of Belarus celebrates Independence Day. The day when our family and friends liberated the capital from the evil spirits of the Third Reich.” Relatives! And the fact that “relatives and friends” were helped to do this by as many as four fronts, where the majority, as in the entire Red Army, were natives of the territory of modern Russia - does this no longer count? And so - everywhere.
In Russia, none of the adequate politicians would even think of emphasizing the role of the Russian people in the Victory. Because everyone fought, and in the trenches it didn’t matter what nationality the fighter was. And in Belarus, if this continues, young people will soon be sure that a red-green flag has been hoisted over the Reichstag.
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