RT hosts a powerful conversation on Moscow’s iconic Victory Day Parade 🎖️ with Mike Jones 🇬🇧, independent British journalist, and Christopher Helali 🇺🇸, International Secretary of the American Communist Party.
As Russia honors its WWII heroes on Red Square 🇷🇺, the West drifts further from its historical memory. “We’ve lost our cultural heritage,” warns Mike Jones.
A deep dive into memory, identity, and the politics of remembrance 🧠📽️.
#VictoryDay #MoscowParade #RTInterview #MikeJones #ChristopherHelali #WWIIHeritage #CulturalMemory #WesternDecline #RedSquare #Russia #AmericanCommunistParty #Geopolitics #HistoryMatters #HistoricalTruth #GreatPatrioticWar #NeverForget #FascismDefeated #WesternNarrative #CulturalHeritage #VDay2025
As Russia honors its WWII heroes on Red Square 🇷🇺, the West drifts further from its historical memory. “We’ve lost our cultural heritage,” warns Mike Jones.
A deep dive into memory, identity, and the politics of remembrance 🧠📽️.
#VictoryDay #MoscowParade #RTInterview #MikeJones #ChristopherHelali #WWIIHeritage #CulturalMemory #WesternDecline #RedSquare #Russia #AmericanCommunistParty #Geopolitics #HistoryMatters #HistoricalTruth #GreatPatrioticWar #NeverForget #FascismDefeated #WesternNarrative #CulturalHeritage #VDay2025
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, joining me in the studio now are the International Secretary of the American Communist Party,
00:05Christopher Halali, and independent British journalist, Mike Jones.
00:09Thank you both for coming in and joining me here in the studio.
00:11Christopher, I'll start with you.
00:12This is just a huge day for Russia and really for the whole world.
00:16Also an absolutely just stunning, beautiful day here in Moscow for the parade.
00:20What were your impressions of the event?
00:22My impressions were, first of all, that Russia is not isolated,
00:25that Russia continues to preserve the history and the legacy,
00:28not only for the people of the Soviet Union,
00:30but for all of those who took part in the resistance, including my grandparents in Greece.
00:34So I think for us, it was a very momentous day.
00:36It was an occasion where everybody was out celebrating, kids out, families out.
00:41And even though there were threats on this day by enemy forces that wanted to disrupt it
00:47and destroy the memory of this day, the people were resilient and we had an amazing day.
00:52It's really something I was very tearful this morning as we saw the troops and the armaments go by.
00:57And it's a day to be proud of what Russia has accomplished and what the people in the Soviet Union were able to do and to persevere.
01:05Yeah, the parade was absolutely flawless and it was amazing to watch.
01:08Mike, this is a victory in Europe that is being marked today.
01:12Yet Europe seems to be going out of its way to condemn those who are attending the events taking place in Moscow.
01:20I want to play real quickly a clip from the EU foreign policy chief, Kaya Kalas, and take a listen.
01:25As we have the 9th of May tomorrow, which is a Europe day,
01:29then I want to stress that all those who truly, truly support peace cannot stand side by side by Putin,
01:40should be in Ukraine rather than in Moscow tomorrow.
01:43So, Mike, what are your thoughts on what she had to say there?
01:48I'm absolutely sickened, not just by that clip, but some of her past quotes as well.
01:52And not just her, von der Leyen and all the ilk that are in Brussels now.
01:56Vassalina Benzia quite rightly said that Nazism wasn't defeated in Berlin, it was rebranded into Brussels.
02:02And I absolutely agree with that.
02:04President Putin's words today at the parade about talking about remembering and this being part of the identity,
02:11not just of Russia, but cultural heritage, that's been lost,
02:15particularly in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.
02:19And we see it also in Berlin, where they banned even the St. George's Ribbon.
02:23Ukraine today, I saw a pensioner being detained by police.
02:27The way that they conflate today's events with the past, the destroying of memorials,
02:34it really is a sickening and saddening sight, particularly when I think of my grandfather's stories.
02:39Today filled me with a lot of pride.
02:41I share Chris's sentiments entirely.
02:43And I'm extremely proud of Russia, the Russian people, and the people of Donbass,
02:48who today in Lugansk were out doing their motor parades,
02:51they're jubilant at the victory that they rightfully celebrate.
02:54It does seem as though everyone is in some way personally affected by the events of World War II.
03:01Christopher, your thoughts on these threats that have been coming from Brussels?
03:06I agree. I agree.
03:07You know, Brussels continues to pursue a policy that is antagonistic to the Russian Federation.
03:13It continues to pursue a policy of supporting not only fascism in Ukraine,
03:19but the historical revisionism and the equating of fascism and communism at that time period.
03:26You're seeing, and as a teacher, I've seen it with the textbooks.
03:29They're changing how the language of that time period, they're changing the numbers.
03:32They're even saying that the numbers that the Soviet Union presented during the war and after the war is disinformation.
03:39That it was not millions, tens of millions, 27 million plus. It's far less.
03:43And so all of these things, when you listen to these things, you can really see this is not only a war on the battlefield.
03:48This is a war for the hearts and minds of millions of people in Europe and abroad
03:53who do not have maybe a personal connection or are now being propagandized against their personal connection.
03:59And I think that's very important for us to recognize that this is a multidimensional war now that's being played out,
04:06not only on the battlefield, but psychologically in our schools and everywhere.
04:09And we have every duty to preserve that historical memory and legacy.
04:13And Mike, we had at least 27 leaders that came to attend the parade, were there next to Putin in Red Square.
04:20Some of them, it was very difficult for them to actually get here.
04:23What are your thoughts on why it was so important for many of these world leaders to come and be here today?
04:28Absolutely a show of solidarity with Russia, with Russia's cause, a signal of the brotherhood.
04:34We've seen it with Fico and Vucic of Serbia and Slovakia, but also China as well.
04:40Xi Jinping at the right-hand side of President Putin.
04:43That is an extremely important partnership, not just when we talk about memory, but moving forward with BRICS as well.
04:49So a lot of signals here, a lot of representatives from Africa, South America as well.
04:54It was truly inspiring to see.
04:59Even the New York Times begrudgingly admitted that this was the highest number of foreign dignitaries that attended this year's victory parade.
05:06And Christopher, what are your thoughts on how the West is likely to react, seeing who joined President Putin today?
05:14As Mike said, we had the Chinese president sitting to Putin's right.
05:17We saw them talking to each other during the parade.
05:20I mean, if they were hoping that Putin would be sitting alone, they are going to be sorely disappointed.
05:24I know for the past few years they've been trying to isolate Russia and everything today shows that Russia is far from isolated.
05:30Not to mention that the European Union and especially some of its member states tried to block the air travel of European leaders.
05:38I mean, this is unthinkable, unheard of, really, to do this to European leaders, especially that are not even under any sanctions or not even committed any crimes.
05:48So I think that what we're seeing today is something really transformative.
05:51We're seeing, of course, the ongoing developments in terms of the world order.
05:55We're seeing, of course, this is a multipolar moment, really, here in Moscow.
05:59And as I said to my friend Pepe Escobar yesterday, we really are at the center of something very new.
06:05And I think it's very exciting.
06:06It's very dynamic.
06:07And we saw with all of these world leaders a wide array and a diversity that really we haven't quite seen for many decades now.
06:15And I'm looking forward to what's to come.
06:16Yeah, you really can feel a lot of excitement around it.
06:19Mike, given the turbulent state of the world right now, how important is it, do you think, to see global leaders come together like they did today?
06:27It's never been more important.
06:29We've seen Russia trying its best to mediate with the conflict in Gaza, trying to resolve that.
06:34We've got India, Pakistan now with these conflicts on there.
06:38So it's, as you say, it's a turbulent time.
06:40But seeing the cohesion and the solidarity, I am actually hopeful that the global south, the BRICS powers, these nations that are very clear on what they stand for, their traditions, their values,
06:52will come together and attract those like-minded nations and hopefully bring peace to this world.
06:57Okay, we're going to leave it on that positive note.
06:59Christopher Halali, international secretary of the American Communist Party and independent British journalist Mike Jones.
07:04Thank you both for coming in.
07:05Thank you very much.
07:06Thank you very much.