Russia will do everything to avoid a global confrontation, but will not allow anyone to threaten it. Russian President Vladimir Putin told the participants of the traditional military parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany. While soldiers were marching in Red Square, Russian troops are pressing on the front line in Ukraine, where Russia has unleashed the biggest land conflict in Europe since 1945 with its invasion in 2022.
According to Russian media, Thursday’s parade featured less military equipment than in the years before the invasion of Ukraine. There are also no representatives of Western countries participating in it. Russia said it did not invite ambassadors from so-called unfriendly countries — essentially those that support Kiev — to the parade.
On the other hand, Putin’s speech was heard by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau. On Red Square in the center of the Russian capital, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, they were introduced to 9,000 members of the Russian army, of which more than 1,000 participated in the fighting in Ukraine.
“Russia will do everything to avoid a global confrontation,” Putin said in a speech. Consistent with his previous statements, he also claimed that the West had forgotten the role of the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has faced deepening isolation and sanctions from the West, according to which Putin seeks to seize Ukrainian territory. The Russian president and other Russian officials, on the other hand, claim that their “special military operation”, as they officially call the war with Ukraine, has the task of “demilitarizing and denazifying” the neighboring country.
Observers remind us that Ukraine is headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who is of Jewish origin, and where, according to the election results, the extreme right played a marginal role on the political scene.
Russia is celebrating victory in World War II a day later than most of Europe, as Nazi Germany signed its surrender shortly before midnight on May 8. At that time, due to the time difference, it was already after midnight in Moscow, i.e. May 9. Today, shows are held or have been held in other major cities across the vast country, which spans 11 time zones.
