Russian President Putin makes no new threats against Ukraine in silent Victory Day speech

On a day meant to showcase his country’s military might, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent his Victory Day speech justifying his decision to invade Ukraine, as a smaller-than-usual parade of Russian forces paraded through the Square. Red.

Some 10,000 soldiers and 129 military vehicles were expected to take part in the celebration, which marks the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat. That’s fewer than the 12,000 soldiers and 191 vehicles that participated last year, when assistance was restricted by the pandemic.

An air show that was supposed to include fighter jets roaring over Moscow in a flying Z, the main symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was canceled at the last minute. State media reported that the decision was made due to the weather, although the sky was clear over Moscow at the time of the parade.

The real reason for the curtailment of the show of power was the unexpectedly fierce resistance the Russian military has encountered since Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine on February 24. , and Russian forces made only limited territorial gains in southern and eastern Ukraine.

At the start of the war, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-run RT news channel, joked that this year’s Victory Day parade would be held in kyiv. Instead, Ukrainian forces have pummeled the Russian invaders, killing thousands of soldiers, including 12 high-ranking generals, and destroying hundreds of military equipment.

In a brief speech, Putin told the assembled soldiers and veterans (some of whom are said to have recently returned from Ukraine) that he ordered the invasion, which the Kremlin refers to as a “special military operation” because Russia had no another option. choice.

He claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine had been seeking nuclear weapons and that NATO countries had been planning an attack on Russia.

“In kyiv, they announced the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons, the NATO bloc began to actively take military control of the territories adjacent to ours. As such, an absolutely unacceptable threat was systematically created for us, and moreover directly at our borders,” he said. “Preparations were underway for another punitive operation in Donbas, the invasion of our historical lands, including Crimea.”

Putin did not comment on how the war was going or how long he thought it would last. Fears that he would use the occasion to formally declare war on Ukraine and perhaps order a general mobilization proved unfounded.

The scale of Russia’s military losses in Ukraine is disputed. While Ukraine claimed in late April to have killed 22,800 Russian soldiers since the start of the war, Russia has so far reported 1,351 military deaths. The British government estimates that some 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine.

By comparison, the Soviet Union lost approximately 15,000 soldiers during the 10-year war in Afghanistan. Analysts have suggested it would take years for the Russian military to recover from the setbacks it has suffered during the two-and-a-half months of fighting in Ukraine.

In his speech, Putin briefly acknowledged Russian military losses in Ukraine, without mentioning numbers. “The death of each of our soldiers and officers is a shared pain and an irreparable loss for their friends and family. The State, the regions, the companies and the public organisms will do everything possible to care for and help these families”, he said.

Also missing from Red Square on Monday were foreign dignitaries who usually attend Victory Day celebrations. While the Kremlin said it had not invited any foreign leaders to the event, the absence of even Moscow’s closest allies, such as Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, was surprising.

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