It’s a proposal that the Kremlin can neither reject nor accept, but one that may force it into an awkward choice, revealing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true appetite for his brutal war of choice.

Moscow's grand avenues, like every year in early May, were taken over by the growling of 80-year-old tanks and the smell of gasoline burned by military vehicles. To the delight of many locals, soldiers marched in multiple rehearsals for the May 9 Victory Day Parade in the week leading up to the actual event.