May 9 parade in Moscow: everything must be done to prevent the horror of a new global war from repeating itself, says Putin
Sylvie Claire / May 9, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Monday that his army was fighting in Ukraine to defend the homeland in the face of the unacceptable threat posed by its Western-backed neighbor.
He then stressed that everything must be done to prevent the horror of a new global war from repeating itself, in a brief speech followed by the traditional May 9 military parade on Red Square which marks the Soviet victory over the Nazis in 1945. I am addressing our armed forces: you are fighting for the fatherland, for its future, he said in front of thousands of soldiers participating in the parade.
Returning to his decision to launch his forces in Ukraine on February 24, he repeated that the Ukrainian authorities were preparing an attack against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, wanted to acquire the atomic bomb and were supported by NATO, an existential threat for Russia.
An absolutely unacceptable threat was constituted, directly at our borders, he affirmed, accusing once again his neighbor of neo-Nazism and describing his offensive as a preventive riposte and the only good decision.
Two and a half months after launching its forces against its neighbor, the fighting is concentrated in the east, as Russia has had to scale down its ambition to take the country and Kiev, its capital, in the face of fierce resistance from Ukrainians, armed by the West. Since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, the traditional May 9 parade celebrates both the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and the Russian power regained after the humiliation of the fall of the USSR.
No air parade will finally take place on Monday as part of these commemorations because of adverse weather conditions, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to the official Russian news agency Tass. In principle, 77 planes and helicopters were to take part in the parade organized on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Several media reported that the fighter jets would form the letter Z in the air, symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian president is also trying to place the conflict in Ukraine in line with 1945, calling the opponent neo-Nazi. Mr. Putin also put May 9 at the heart of Russian patriotism, while the USSR lost up to 27 million of its citizens in the war. Faced with this terrible toll, the Russian president stressed Monday that Russia's duty was to avoid a new world war, while many fear that the conflict in Ukraine will escalate. Our debt is to keep the memory of those who crushed Nazism (...) and to do everything so that the horror of a global war is not repeated, he said.