The immortal squad

For centuries, the Mari people believed that from Holy Thursday of Passion Week until the Semik festival in early June, the dead return to the village to visit their relatives. The living were expected to feed them and offer them spirits.

In the 21st century, in the Ural village of Verkhny Potam, the culmination of this visitation has become May 9. On this day, portraits of ancestors are carried during the Immortal Regiment procession — not imposed from above, but largely spontaneous. After the ceremony, villagers go together to the cemetery to offer food and drink to their ancestors and deceased friends.

Ancient rituals, Soviet traditions, and the patriotic initiatives of modern Russia merge into a single rite, where official clichés intertwine with a sincere and living love for ancestors, and memories of the past blend with stories of a new war.