Victory Day celebrations on Moscow’s Red Square this Tuesday were accompanied by a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he accused the West of initiating a war comparable to World War II.
Every May 9, Russia commemorates the fall of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in 1945. The public holiday is usually rung in by large military processions and crowds, but this year’s festivities were markedly smaller.
As The Dallas Express reported, the Kremlin announced last Wednesday that Ukraine had launched a failed assassination attempt against Putin. It claimed that two drones were shot down above the Kremlin by special forces.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied the allegations, the Kremlin suggested that the attack granted it “the right to take countermeasures wherever and whenever it deems appropriate,” according to a statement.
The Victory Day parade in Moscow saw a marching column of over 8,000 military personnel and a motorized column of missile systems, air defense launchers, and various armored military vehicles on display, according to a press release from the Kremlin.
In his address, Putin likened the fight against the Nazis to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, noting that “our civilization is at a crucial turning point.”
“Western globalist elites still talk about their exceptionalism, pitting people against each other and splitting society, provoking bloody conflicts and coups, sowing hatred, Russophobia, aggressive nationalism, [and destroying] family and traditional values,” Putin continued.
“They seem to have forgotten what the Nazis’ insane claims of global dominance led to,” he added.
The Russian president has often depicted the conflict in Ukraine as necessary to combat the growing threat of enemies in the West.
Another frequently cited trope is that of Kyiv being a puppet of these enemies.
“The Ukrainian nation has become hostage to a coup which led to a criminal regime led by its Western masters. It has become a pawn to their cruel and selfish plans,” Putin remarked, according to the news release.
While Putin describes his war effort as akin to that against Nazis, so does Zelenskyy.
In an address on May 8 — Ukraine’s new Victory Day if a bill recently submitted by Zelenskyy passes — the Ukrainian president compared the ongoing campaign against Russia’s invasion to the coalition against Hitler’s Germany.
“Just as we destroyed evil together then, we are destroying a similar evil together now,” Zelenskyy said, according to the Kyiv Post.
Currently, Russian forces are spread across a front line of over 600 miles as they defend against a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is taking a toll on both Russia and Ukraine, with a significant loss of life and resources on both sides.
The West’s continued sanctions and diplomatic isolation of Russia have further weakened the country’s economy and international standing.
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