Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia’s intervention in Ukraine had been necessary because the West was “preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea.”
Putin was speaking at the annual Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square marking the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
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President Putin evoked the memory of Soviet heroism in World War Two to urge his army towards victory in Ukraine.
Addressing massed ranks of servicemen on Red Square on the 77th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, Putin condemned what he called external threats to weaken and split Russia, and repeated familiar arguments he had used to justify its invasion -- that NATO was creating threats right next to its borders.
He directly addressed soldiers fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine which Russia has pledged to “liberate” from
“Defending the Motherland when its fate is being decided has always been sacred,” he said. “Today you are fighting for our
people in Donbas, for the security of Russia, our homeland.”
“The death of every soldier and officer is painful for us,” he said. “The state will do everything to take care of these families.”
He finished his speech with a rallying cry to the assembled soldiers: “For Russia, For Victory, Hurrah!”
Putin’s 11-minute speech on day 75 of the invasion offered no assessment of progress in the war and gave no indication of
He has repeatedly likened the war -- which he casts as a battle against dangerous “Nazi”-inspired nationalists in Ukraine
-- to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Adolf Hitler invaded in 1941.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it is Russia that is staging a “bloody re-enactment of Nazism” in Ukraine.
Read more: Explainer: Why Victory Day in Russia is different this year
killakam86437 on May 9th, 2022 at 09:31 UTC »
Putin: They burned our crops, poisoned our water supplies, and delivered a plague onto our houses.
Citizens: THEY DID?!
Putin: nooooooooo... BUT ARE WE GONNA JUST STAND AROUND AND WAIT UNTIL THEY DO?!?
_Icardi_B on May 9th, 2022 at 08:56 UTC »
As a side note, a tad bit surprising that the speech didn’t indicate any sort of escalation nor deescalation of the conflict. It was a non-event.
No announcement of mobilisation, no formal declaration of war in Ukraine, no nuclear threats but also no sign that the Kremlin is close to declaring ‘mission accomplished’ either.
Either the Kremlin is waiting for a different occasion for an announcement, or they’re still mired in indecision over what to do.
They need to decide soon though. They’re running low on manpower and Ukraine are only strengthening.
Aggravating_Teach_27 on May 9th, 2022 at 07:45 UTC »
...as a matter of fact they are already occupying our lands of Poland, Czechia Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Finland, the Baltic republics, the Balcans...
Imperialistic nutso logic. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is negotiable...