Russia does not want a global conflict, but it will not be threatened, Putin said

According to Russian media, today’s parade featured less military equipment than in the years before the invasion of Ukraine. No representatives of Western countries took part in it either. Russia said it did not invite ambassadors from so-called unfriendly countries – basically those that support Kyiv – to the parade.

Putin’s on the contrary, the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but also Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau heard the speech. 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.

Military parade during Victory Day celebrations in MoscowSource: Profimedia/Peter Kovalev/TASS

The Reuters agency described this year’s show as “modest” in terms of military equipment. Russia demonstrated only one T-34 tank, but also the Jars intercontinental strategic missile, which, according to a Russian TV host, “has the guaranteed ability to hit a target anywhere on the globe.”

Later, fighter jets flew over the heads of those present, leaving traces in the color of the Russian tricolor.

The war in Ukraine

Today, as in the previous two years, Putin spoke not only about the victory in the middle of the last century, but also about war in Ukraine and confrontation with the West. However, according to the Russian-language BBC server, there was less criticism of the West this year. “Russia will do everything to prevent a global confrontation. (…) At the same time, however, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always on combat alert,” Putin said in a speech as an unusual snowstorm for May raged around him. In line with his previous statements, he also claimed that the West had forgotten the role of the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany, and accused Western countries of fomenting conflicts around the world.

He has been holding the Ukrainian front for two years. Veterans suspect: We can’t go home, newcomers would fall

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 the president Volodymyr Zelenskyiwhich has Jewish origins, and where, according to the election results, the extreme right played a marginal role on the political scene.

One day later

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.