A victory over nazi germany and the eyes of the world were on red square. vladimir putin, unable to declare a victory of his own in ukraine, railed against the west. he had been forced to act against his neighbour, he said, out of self defence. translation: preparations were openly under way - for another punitive operation in donbas, an invasion of our historic lands including crimea. nato began active military development of the territories adjacent to ours. this was an absolutely unacceptable threat, systematically created for us and right on our borders. fewer troops, less military hardware than usual on display, resources presumably tied up in ukraine. this was, as always, a display of might intended for the outside world.