A nationalist discourse, destined to unite the people and with imperialist references. This is how Vladimir Putin commemorated Russia Day — a national holiday whose designation raises questions even in his own country — calling on Russians to be united, especially in times of war.

“Today we are especially aware of how important it is for the country, for our society, that people are united,” Putin said, quoted by various agencies. At the time, he was presenting an award ceremony for 2021, in Russia, for achievements in the areas of science, technology, literature, the arts, and human rights. And, in this celebratory atmosphere, he took the opportunity to leave praise for the people and to boost the collective memory regarding Russian history.

In this sense, Putin underlined the importance of the “secular traditions, moral values, spiritual foundations” of the Russian people, strengthened “throughout the millennial history” of the country, for whom, he said, “sincere and deep feelings of patriotism” continue to be felt, are “sacred”.

And he went further, extolling the figure of the ancient emperor Peter the Great, for having created a “powerful and invincible” army and navy. “He is rightly called the great reformer, he has made fundamental changes in almost all spheres of life, primarily in government, in economic development, in creating a powerful and invincible army and navy,” Putin said, referring to thus to a rhetoric that has been used since the beginning of the war: the exaltation of the former Russian and Soviet empire.

There may still be discussions about the role of the emperor today, Putin admitted in the same speech, but later emphasized: “It is impossible not to admit that it was under this ruler that Russia emerged as a great and strong world power.”

Reinforcing the idea that he has strong imperialist ambitions – and that he compares himself to the emperor, whom he speaks of as something of an example – Putin had already released more of his thoughts on Peter the Great on Thursday.

In a meeting with young Russian businessmen, Putin compared himself to the emperor who founded Saint Petersburg in the late 17th century. “Peter the Great launched the Great Northern War, which lasted 21 years. He was at war with Sweden not to take anything from them, to recover. So it was,” he said, quoted by CNN.

And he seemed to show signs of his indifference to the general condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine at the international level: “When [Pedro, o Grand] founded the new capital, none of the European countries recognized this territory as part of Russia; everyone recognized it as part of Sweden.”

Putin himself made the connection between the lessons he learned from the former emperor and the war in Ukraine: “Clearly, it was also up to us to recover and become stronger.”

Independence Day. But from who?

It was one more moment in which Putin opted for patriotism to unite the Russian population, especially important while the invasion of Ukraine lasts. The Russian president took advantage of Russia Day, a national holiday, to do just that, although there are doubts about the origin of the ephemeris, as an analysis published in the American think-tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace points out: “On this day, Russia tries to celebrate its independence without asking the uncomfortable question: independence from whom?

“Independence from the Soviet Union, from its former colonies: the Baltic countries, Central Asia, the South Caucasus states, Ukraine? But the Soviet Union was Russia, albeit under a different name. The curious thing about this anniversary is that, despite celebrating Russia’s independence from the rest of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin today tries to remember the “leftovers” [desse império]”, writes Lilia Shevtsova, a professor and expert on Russian politics.

In fact, Independence Day came to be used by many Russians as the date designation, but according to the same source, about half of Russians, who were asked about the date, cannot say what it commemorates. the date. The milestone will be the end of the chapter of the Soviet Union, so that Russia is seen as one country, but today the national holiday has lost the word “independence” and is known, more generally, as the day of Russia .

As the Russian agency TASS explains, it was on June 12, 1990 that the first Russian Parliament voted and Boris Yeltsin signed a declaration on Russian state sovereignty, thus marking the official end of the Soviet era. In 1992, the day became a national holiday. Since then, there are usually concerts, sporting events or fireworks to celebrate, in addition to the award ceremony that Putin presided over this Saturday.

Congratulations and passports from Kim Jong-un in record time

This year, and with Putin betting everything on patriotism to keep the population together in times of war, he received the “full support” of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. According to North Korea’s official KCNA news agency, Jong-un made sure to send a congratulatory message to Putin on Russia Day.

And he praised the Russian president for being able to “courageously overcome all kinds of challenges and difficulties” faced “to carry out the just cause of defending dignity, security and the right to development”, promising to “expand and develop” the relationship between Russia and North Korea from now on.

North Korean leader expresses ‘full support’ for Putin

However, Russia took advantage of the symbolic date to deliver the first Russian passports to the inhabitants of Kherson, according to the Russian news agencies AFP.

In the city located in southern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops, 23 residents received a Russian passport at a ceremony, with the head of the pro-Russian administration, Vladimir Saldo, saying this opens a “new era” and that all the inhabitants want to have a Russian passport and citizenship “as soon as possible”.

This was only possible, moreover, because Putin signed a decree in May that made it possible to speed up the process to deliver the Russian passport to more Ukrainians.