E-mail: komaryana2006@gmail.com
Gorlovka, DPR; Krasnodar, Russian Federation
PhD in History, Independent Researcher
This article describes Victory Day commemorations (9 May) in the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, based on observation, interviews, and material from the periodical press. In the course of the study, it was found out that in the republics celebration of this date went beyond the memory of the events and participants of the Great Patriotic War. The holiday assumed new meanings, acquiring its own characteristics and markers. Commemorative practices were not limited to participants of the Great Patriotic War, but were also devoted to the military and civilian dead in the current armed conflict in the Donbas. Particular attention is paid to the role of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP) in events held on this day. The holiday’s celebration includes a number of unique symbols and signs that are only characteristic of the 9th of May. While the celebration of 9th of May takes but a short period of time, its emotional component and capacity for expression are more comparable to the festival tradition than to that of commemoration.
At the same time, on the temporal segment, 9th of May takes a short one-hour period of time, and the potential of the emotional component and the fullness of the day is more comparable to the festive cultural tradition than to the commemorative one.
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