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| Russian President Vladimir Putin |
Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed NATO and the West for the invasion of Ukraine, which marks 75 days this Monday. Putin has stated, in his speech in Red Square and on the occasion of Victory Day, that the "special operation" on Ukraine has been a "correct" decision by Moscow while underlining that the actions of the NATO reached a level of "obvious threat" to the country's national security. However, contrary to expectations, Putin did not make an announcement of a change in strategy.
The parade on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II has gathered in Moscow, in a clear display of Russian military muscle, with some 11,000 soldiers, and 131 tanks and other military equipment.
To open the day, Putin gave a speech in which he pointed out that "defending the country is something sacred" and in which he praised the Russian military who are fighting "for the population in Donbas and for the country's security."
According to the Russian president, Moscow proposed a security agreement between Russia and Europe in December. "Russia asked the West for honest dialogue to reach reasonable and compromise solutions, taking into account the interests of all. It was in vain. They did not want to listen to us. They had completely different plans. We can see it," he said.
Russian invasion threat
"They were preparing a punitive operation in Donbas to invade our historical territory, including Crimea. In Kyiv, they said that they could get nuclear weapons and NATO began to explore the territories adjacent to us," Putin said during his speech.
"We have seen how military infrastructures are deployed, how hundreds of foreign experts worked in Ukraine, how they were supplying NATO weapons. The danger was growing every day. Russia carried out a preventive attack, it was a necessary measure and the only possible one in this situation. A decision of a sovereign and independent country", concluded the president in his speech for the Victory Day over Nazi Germany.
In addition, Putin defended that the Russian troops and the Donetsk and Lugansk militias are fighting for their homeland, for their future so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War.
"Today the Donbas militias together with the Russian Army are fighting on their own land (...). Now I am addressing our troops and militias in Donbas: they are fighting for their homeland, for their future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War II so that there is no room for the Nazis," Putin said in his speech on Red Square.
Putin has told Russian soldiers that they are “fighting for what their fathers and grandfathers did” in World War II. In a rare mention of Russian casualties in Ukraine, Putin said that "the death of each of our soldiers and officers is a pain for all of us and an irreparable loss for family and friends," and announced a law that "will provide special support to the children of dead and wounded comrades".
The Russian leader said, yes, that everything possible must be done to avoid the "horror of global war". Specifically, he pointed out: "Our duty is to remember those who crushed Nazism (...) and do everything possible so that the horror of a global war does not repeat itself."
Zelensky: "We will win"
The president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelenski, also insisted this Monday that "sooner or later" they will defeat and expel the "Nazi hordes" that arrive from Moscow because while the Russians fight "for the Führer", the Ukrainians do so for "the freedom" and so that the victory of their ancestors "is not in vain. On the occasion of Victory Day, Zelenski addressed his compatriots through a video recorded in the streets of central Kyiv, to insist that they will continue to fight the "barbaric" Russian troops. "This is not a war between two armies. It is a war of two worldviews. Barbarians who shoot at the Skovoroda Museum believe that their missiles can destroy our philosophy. It annoys them, that it is foreign to them, it scares them. We are free people who are looking for our own path. Today we make war on them and we will not give anyone a piece of our land", he emphasized.
On the Ukrainian ground
In Ukrainian territory, the Russian offensive continues in the east to try to establish total control over the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, maintain the land corridor between those territories, and occupied Crimea. This is the most outstanding conclusion of the last part of the Ukrainian Military High Command, released on Monday. In addition, once civilians have been evacuated from Azovstal, the Mariupol steel mill, Russian attacks have resumed against the soldiers still inside.
On the other hand, British intelligence has warned this Monday that Russia is running out of precision ammunition. This may mean that you now have to use less accurate ammunition. Information that comes just hours after Russia perpetrated a heinous bombing against a school in Lugansk, in which there may be up to 62 dead civilians.