Besides Crimea, Novorossiya is really the only place, in what the west still considers ‘Ukraine’, where real Victory Day observations were held.  But, even before the coup nearly a year and a half ago, the observations were still muted under the western influence and the ‘moderate’ Ukrainian nationalism of Kuchma.

So, these observations and popular commemorations are really in the ‘Russian style’; this communicates clearly how Novorossiya sees itself – as part of the larger Eurasian world of several, many, Russias.

Another thing is certain too – The DPR Army isn’t a rag-tag bunch of drunken rebels or criminal outlaws, as is repeated ad nauseum in the walled garden of Ukropian daily propaganda.  This is, as we say in the Anglophonic world – “The real deal”.

[Beautiful photographs of the parade on Fort Russ]