Photo: VK

Staff at a maternity hospital in the city of Kemerovo in western Siberia have started sending newborn babies home dressed in miniature military uniforms to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, independent news channel 7x7 reported on Thursday.

According to a post made by the hospital, its nurses have been making military-style caps, socks and cloaks in honour of this year’s Victory Day, which takes place on 9 May. “The initiative is designed to remind people of the connection between generations, the courage of the defenders of the Fatherland and the fact that even the youngest Russian citizen is part of a great history,” the hospital’s post read.

Photo: VK

Though the hospital did not say how many parents had agreed to have their babies dressed in military clothing, it did stress that those who had taken part had done so on a voluntary basis.

Victory Day, which for decades was the most important holiday in the Soviet Union but dwindled in importance after the end of communism, has undergone a revival under Vladimir Putin and is marked by an elaborate military parade on Red Square designed to project Russian might and influence to a global audience.

While historians disagree about the exact number of Soviet citizens killed during World War II, the general consensus is around 26 million people, and while there are very few people still alive today who remember the conflict, the Great Patriotic War, as it is known to Russians, continues to loom large in the national psyche.