Letters from an American - Two Celebrations

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Russia celebrates Victory Day, the anniversary of its victory over the Nazis. Putin co-opts the holiday to showboat the country's military and boost morale and support for the Ukraine War. Putin has not achieved any of his initial goals in the Ukraine War. Putin fearmongers against NATO. A big celebration in Hungary but for another reason. Péter Magyar takes the oath of office as prime minister after winning a landslide victory over Putin ally Viktor Orbán, ending Orbán campaign against "liberal democracy." Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

May 10, 26. There were two very different celebrations in Russia and in Hungary yesterday. Russia celebrated Victory Day, the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Most of the Allies honor victory in Europe Day, or VE Day, on May 8th, the day in 1945, the jubilant celebrations broke out as news spread of the Nazis' Uncustomization surrender in France on May 7, 1945. The Russians celebrate victory over the Nazis on May 9th, for by the time the Germans surrendered to the Soviets in Berlin, the time difference meant it was already May 9th in Moscow. May 9th is an important national holiday in Russia, marked with parades and honoring of relatives who fought in the war. In 2005, when Russia was still embracing Democratic nations, more than 50 world leaders attended the 60th anniversary of Victory Day,

including President George W. Bush, the leaders of China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Denmark, the Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the European Commission. But for the past several years, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has used the event to demonstrate the nation's military strength and to represent the nation's military strength and to supporters behind him and the war in Ukraine. He has showcased troops and military hardware in a grand parade in Moscow's Red Square. This year, as Zara Olav, CNN reported, Putin followed his usual pattern of equating the troops fighting in Ukraine with those who fought in World War II. As he has often framed the war as a struggle against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,

or NATO, he claimed today's soldiers for Russia are standing up to an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. But the similarities between past celebrations and yesterdays ended there. This year, the parade was dramatically scaled back. The parade included four parade units, including some from North Korea, and there was no heavy military hardware. Instead, screens spread across Red Square showed pre-recorded videos of drones, air defense forces, and submarines that state media claimed were from the front lines. Although foreign leaders have attended the event in the past, this year there were few.

As Matthew Luxmore noted in the Wall Street Journal, Russian allies Venezuela and Hungary have recently lost their pro-Russian leaders, and Russian ally Iran is at war with the U.S. China's leader Xi Jinping attended last year, but did not attend this year. Russian officials allowed few foreign reporters to cover the event and warned people there could be restrictions on texting and the Internet to ensure security during the festive events. Putin's scaled-back celebration reflects fear of Ukrainian drone strikes, which are hitting deep inside Russia.

It also reflects growing discontent over the war and its devastation of the economy, and anger at the increasing repression with which Putin is trying to control opposition. As former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, noted in McFal's world, Putin's war on Ukraine has now lasted longer than the Soviet Union's war with Nazi Germany

and has achieved none of the goals Putin set out for the conflict. He has not subjugated Ukraine and has not succeeded in regime change. He has not demilitarized Ukraine. Indeed, Ukraine is more militarized than ever before and has become an important player in global weapons systems. And not only has Putin failed to stop NATO from expanding, but in response to his invasion of Ukraine, both Finland and Sweden have joined the defensive alliance. Instead of achieving Putin's goals, the war has killed or wounded more than 1.2 million Russian soldiers and eaten up the economy. As criticism of the regime has become more outspoken, the Kremlin has curbed access to the internet, not only exacerbating that

criticism, but also, as McFal notes, making it harder for people to use mobile banking, order a taxi, or use other online services. Rumors are circulating that Putin is increasingly concerned for his own safety. Rather than walking to the tomb of the unknown soldier to lay flowers as usual, yesterday he took an armored bus. Russia had announced a ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, but when it unraveled, President Donald J. Trump announced that he had persuaded Russia and Ukraine to agree to a three-day ceasefire that,

would cover the Victory Day celebration and allow an exchange of a thousand prisoners from each country. After the announcement of the ceasefire, Ukraine President Volodemir Zelenskyy trolled Putin with a formal presidential decree to allow a parade in Moscow. It said, For the time of the parade, the territorial square of Red Square shall be excluded from the plan of application of Ukrainian weapons. By Sunday, after the parade, the ceasefire had already broken down. Today, McFal noted, Ukrainian warriors have stopped the invading Russian hordes. Putin is losing his war in Ukraine. Putin would be wise to cut his losses. In Hungary, a different kind of celebration was underway as Peter Majar took the oath of office as prime minister after winning a landslide victory

over Putin-ali Victor Orban. In his 16 years of rule, Orban rejected the liberal democracy his country used to enjoy, saying that its emphasis on multiculturalism weakened the national culture, while its insistence on human equality undermined traditional society by recognizing that women and LGBTQ people have the same rights as straight white men. The age of liberal democracy was over, he said, and a new age had begun. In place of equality, Orban advocated what he called illiberal democracy, or Christian democracy. Christian democracy is, by definition, not liberal, he said in July 2018. if you like, illiberal. And we can specifically say this in connection with a few important issues,

say three great issues. Liberal democracy is in favor of multiculturalism, while Christian democracy gives priority to Christian culture. This is an illiberal concept. Liberal democracy is pro-immigration, while Christian democracy is anti-immigration. This is, again, a genuinely illiberal concept. And liberal democracy sides with adaptable family models, while Christian democracy rests on the foundations of the Christian family model. Once more, this is an illiberal concept. Orban focused on LGBTQ rights as a danger to Western civilization.

Arguing the need to protect children, his party has made it impossible for transgender people to change their gender identification on legal documents and made it illegal to share with minors any content that can be interpreted as promoting an LGBT lifestyle. After Orban put allies in charge of Hungarian universities, his government banned public funding for gender studies courses. According to his chief of staff, the Hungarian government is of the clear view that people are born either men or women. The American right wing championed Orban, who called for the establishment of a global right wing to continue to work together to destroy liberal democracy and establish Christian democracy. Before Hungary's April election, Trump not only repeatedly endorsed Orban, but also repeatedly endorsed Orban, but also, promised to use the full economic might of the United States to strengthen Hungary's economy, as we have done for our great allies in the past, if Prime Minister Victor Orban and the Hungarian people ever need it. Vice President J.D. Vance actually traveled to Hungary to campaign for

Orban. But the Hungarian people overwhelmingly rejected Orban and his party, giving Madyar's party more than a two-thirds majority in Parliament. This will give it the power to overturn not only the laws Orban and his party passed, but also the changes Orban made to entrench himself and his party in power permanently. Majar promised to root out the corruption that has made Orban and his cronies rich, to restore the rule of law and freedom of speech, and to repair Hungary's ties with the European Union, which Orban had frayed almost to the breaking point with his loyalty to Vladimir Putin.

In his inauguration speech, Majar vowed to serve my country, not rule over it. He noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government stole from the pockets of Hungarians and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken health care system. He vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its law. and promised to rebuild the nation's shattered checks and balances. He urged Hungarians always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable. We inherited a country where politics deliberately pitted Hungarians against each other, he said, and he explained how Orban mobilized supporters with hatred and fear,

poisoning the collective psyche of an entire nation. The Hungarian state must never again do this to its own citizens, he said. He vowed to heal the country. We will once again learn to think of ourselves as one nation, he promised. Then Majar and members of his party walked out to the crowd outside the parliament on Laoskoshkoshut Square. Majar urged them to see themselves as one community. He assured them that the story of the day had not been written by politicians in back rooms, but by them. It was all of you. You wrote it through your work, your hope, your concern, and your determination.

This is now your transition to democracy. This is your homeland, your National Assembly, and we thank you. After Majar spoke as Roma singer Ibolya Ola, a lesbian, began performing her anthem Majar Osag. The crowd crossed the reflecting pool in front of the parliament building to surge forward, taking back their public spaces and their parliament, illustrating their faith in a new era for their country. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather. Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead of Massachusetts, recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.