Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. The annual event is a key part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda efforts to justify aggression against what the Kremlin falsely describes as “Nazis” in Ukraine. But Putin’s version of history is very different from reality and omits several major factors that helped the Soviet Union defeat Nazi