Putin claims the West declared war on him during military Victory Day parade
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country is in the midst of a "real war" declared by the West, which he accused of forgetting the lessons of World War II, when Nazi Germany also sought world hegemony.
"A real war has again been unleashed against our homeland. But we resist international terrorism and we will also defend the inhabitants of the Donbas and ensure our security," Putin said on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade.
Some of the usual logical acrobatics here as Putin opens his commemoration speech on the Red Square saying Europe was attacked by Nazi forces and now "civilisation" has once again been attacked. pic.twitter.com/moiaHRiUsd
— Polina Ivanova (@polinaivanovva) May 9, 2023
Accompanied by nonagenarian veterans of the world war, but isolated from the rest of the world, Putin took advantage of the most important date in the Russian calendar to harangue the troops fighting in Ukraine, whose victory is more than in doubt at this stage of the campaign.
Putin assured that "there is nothing more important now" for the Kremlin than "the special military operation", on whose success, he admitted, the country's security and future depend.
Indeed, the parade was preceded by a new night-time bombardment of Kiev, hours before the arrival in the city of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Good to be back in Kyiv.
Where the values we hold dear are defended everyday.
So it is such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe.
I welcome President @ZelenskyyUa's decision to make 9 May Europe Day also here in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/MEGOEfgyIq— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 9, 2023
THE WAR OF THE WEST
From his pulpit next to Lenin's mausoleum, he again gave a history lesson to the West, warning that, as with Hitler, "unbounded ambition, arrogance and permissiveness inevitably lead to tragedy".
"We consider any supremacist ideology to be by its nature repugnant, criminal and deadly. Instead, globalist elites continue to defend their exclusivity, pit people against each other and divide societies, provoke bloody conflicts and coups, sow hatred, Russophobia and aggressive nationalism," he stressed.
No other tanks except for T-34 were present on the Red Square in Moscow. Russian soon will need T-34s too pic.twitter.com/LJMvFSdOz5
— Giorgi Revishvili (@revishvilig) May 9, 2023
He accused Western powers of "imposing their will, their rights, their rules" and, in reality, forging "a system of plunder, violence and oppression" in which they also destroy "the traditional values that make man a man".
He said that "they seem to have forgotten what the Nazis' insane aspiration for world domination led to, who destroyed that monstrous and absolute evil (...) and who spared no lives for the sake of the liberation of the peoples of Europe", alluding to the Red Army.
He also accused some "revanchist" countries, in a clear reference to Poland and the Baltics, of preparing a "new march against Russia", the aim of which would be to bring about its disintegration.
THE KREMLIN'S ISOLATION
In an attempt to avoid complete isolation of the Kremlin leader, the leaders of several former Soviet republics were invited at the last minute, bringing the total to seven leaders, the most prominent of whom was Russia's main ally in Ukraine, Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko.
Putin also extended Victory Day greetings to the Ukrainian, Moldovan and Georgian peoples, but not to their leaders, with whom he is at odds.
Since the 60th anniversary of the victory (2005), when the parade was attended by US President George W. Bush, the guest list has dwindled to the point where Western leaders have disappeared altogether.
Well... This is rather unexpected. Lukashenko arrives in Moscow just in time for the Victory Day Parade tomorrow. #lukashenko #Belarus #Russia #Putin #Kremlin #Moscow pic.twitter.com/4A7600Kv4P
— Natalka (@NatalkaKyiv) May 8, 2023
The Russian leader did not hesitate to allude in his speech to Ukraine, which, in his opinion, is experiencing a "catastrophe", but not because of the military intervention launched by Russia in February 2022.
"It is hostage to a coup d'état, to the criminal regime set up as a result and to its Western masters. It is a bargaining chip in the realisation of their cruel and lucrative plans," he said.
TERROR IN THE REAR
Some 10,000 troops, including more than half a thousand Ukrainian fighters, paraded across the cobbled square, but the day was dampened by tight security measures due to fears of Ukrainian sabotage.
Russia did display the tanks (T-72, T-34 and T-14), S-400 anti-aircraft batteries and Iskander cruise missiles that terrorise the neighbouring country, as well as Yars intercontinental rockets, but this year's military muscle exercise did not include an air parade.
Russia’s army is the most powerful in the world, - putin.
— Maria Drutska 🇺🇦 (@maria_drutska) May 9, 2023
“Historical parade” with T-34 on the Red Square in Moscow. pic.twitter.com/H4KRXYiZsw
The Immoral Regiment, the traditional march with portraits of the fallen, an event in which Putin always participates, was also cancelled as the risk was too great, and more than twenty cities in Russia's European part of the country suspended parades.
In an unprecedented move, the Kremlin closed Red Square to the public for two weeks, a decision taken before two allegedly Ukrainian drones last week damaged the dome of the Kremlin palace where Putin has his office.
