A nation obsessed with the notion of war

[fridi]

As expected, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany was turned into another militaristic show-off in Russia. The event was everywhere around the news. At some point the patriotic craze even reached ridiculous extremes, for example the Gazeta newspaper came up with a front-page title, "Germany Attacks the USSR!" With the word "LIVE" in the caption. One'd think, what? Not again!? But just as the reader is gearing up to grab their grandpa's dirk and rush to the nearest reservist gathering point, they venture reading past the title line. And they sigh with relief.

But that's not all...