Watching the ritual May Victory Day parade as a correspondent in Moscow a couple of decades ago, I was always struck by its distinctive mix a noisy exhibition of modern military power but also a day that harked back to past victories, with Second World War veterans waving forlorn carnations as tanks thundered up the main boulevard (workmen have to head out early the next day to fill in the potholes left behind).
Simeon Boikov, the self-styled Aussie Cossack , held a boozy pro-Russia party on Sydney Harbour with bikies, diplomats and his glamorous wife Katia celebrating Russia s World War II victory.