Side by side on the Red Square: Xi and Putin in the shadow of history

When Vladimir Putin delivers his speech in the stands on Red Square on May 9 with the cry "For Russia! For victory! Hurrah!" to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Xi Jinping will be sitting at his side. It is a well-calculated signal to the domestic audience and the world amid a geopolitical hardening of fronts.