Victory Day Is Near, and Putin Is Worried

Yaroslav Trofimov in the Wall Street Journal and Jim Geraghty in National Review have remarkably similar stories this morning about a nervous Vladimir Putin as his favorite day in the year approaches: May 9, Victory Day, when Soviet Russia supposedly defeated "the Nazis." In fact, Germany surrendered to the Allies on May 8, but Stalin demanded that they send a delegation to Moscow the following day, to surrender to him personally. That's how Russian history gets written, or rewritten.

It's not just that Putin is afraid that a Ukrainian drone might target his seat (Mr Geraghty conveniently supplies the lat/lon of Lenin's tomb in case the Ukrainians don't have it). There's also the fear of that very Russian phenomenon, the coup -- two of those in 1917, a civil war the following year, and a confusing number of government upheavals in the 1990s, the last of which installed Putin as the country's dictator. Not to mention a short-lived rebellion by Wagner Group mercenaries in 2023.

But not to worry, Mr President-for-Life! Enjoy your day