Sergey Parkhomenko, 61, founder of the Russian news magazine Itogi – created in 1996 in cooperation with the American weekly Newsweek – has not only had a rich career as a journalist, but he is also behind numerous civic initiatives, such as Dissernet, a platform that tracks plagiarism in Russian science, and Last Address, which places hundreds of commemorative plaques for victims of Stalinism on buildings in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

Close to the non-governmental organization Memorial, Parkhomenko has lived in exile since 2021, the year when the renowned human rights group, dedicated to the preservation of the memory of victims of Soviet power, was dissolved. Today, he leads the project Redkollegia ("editorial board"), funded by philanthropist businessman Boris Zimin, which rewards Russian journalists unaffiliated with the government for the quality of their work.

What do the 1945 victory commemorations represent in today's Russia, currently involved in a war it initiated?

Since Vladimir Putin, the change has been dramatic. I remember that before, at my grandparents' house, there was a set table and friends were invited, but it was above all a celebration of pain, of remembrance. And then, the celebrations of the Great Patriotic War [as World War II is called in Russia] became an instrument of militaristic propaganda, a celebration of aggression against everyone under the theme of "We can do it again."

This was not at all the case under Boris Yeltsin [president of the Russian Federation from July 1991 to December 31, 1999], but Putin began to transform this date of May 9 quite early after coming to power, as early as 2003-2004. And it continued, notably with the Immortal Regiment, an event created in 2012 by a journalist from Tomsk as a demonstration of condolences, of collective mourning [Russians march carrying handmade placards with portraits of their relatives who died or went missing during the war].

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