Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone to extraordinary lengths to commemorate the Second World War. Even though the war ended over 77 years ago, Putin has made World War II memory central to contemporary Russian national identity. This talk will compare Soviet and post-Soviet war memorialization to show the ways in which Soviet narratives and symbols continue to inform war commemoration in Russia today. It will also explore how Putin uses war remembrance to try to promote patriotism and build support for his war in Ukraine.

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