Kyiv symbolised its break from Moscow this year by shifting its observance of the Nazi defeat to May 8 in line with its European allies.
Ukraine said its air defence systems shot all of them down after air raid alerts blared over most of the country. “The future of our statehood and our people depend on you.”Įarlier, Russia launched about 15 cruise missiles at Ukraine’s capital, the second attack in as many days. “The security of the country rests on you today,” Putin said. “There is nothing more important now than your combat effort,” he said. Putin told soldiers taking part in Moscow’s Ukraine campaign, several hundreds of whom were present at the Red Square parade, that “the whole country is with you.” He called for Russia to be victorious: “For Russia, for our armed forces, for victory! Hurrah!” He also did not outline a path to victory. Ukraine and the United States denied having any role in the alleged attack, in which no one was harmed, saying that Kyiv’s fight was a defensive one.īut Putin did not directly address any of the challenges facing Russia as its forces prepare for an expected major counteroffensive by Ukraine.
#Russian victory day parade 2014 series
This appeared to be a reference to an unprecedented series of attacks on Russian soil in the run-up to the Victory Day parade, including a purported drone attack on the Kremlin citadel less than a week ago, which Moscow blamed on Kyiv and Washington. “We have rebuffed international terrorism.
“Their goal, and there is nothing new here, is to achieve the collapse and destruction of our country,” he said, promising that Moscow would overcome this. “Western globalist elites” were sowing Russophobia and aggressive nationalism while the Ukrainian people had become “hostages to a state coup” and to the ambitions of the West, he said. Putin repeated familiar messages he has delivered many times in the nearly 15 months of Russia’s war in Ukraine. From right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attend a military parade on Victory Day in Red Square “Critics say a celebration of Victory Day has turned into a demonstration of strength and sabre-rattling … and people stopped thinking about peace and the value of life,” she said. Moscow-based journalist Yulia Shapovalov told Al Jazeera: “Normally it lasts an hour, but today it lasted 47 minutes.
Soldiers marched through the square, followed by tanks and nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.īut a flyover of warplanes was cancelled, and parades in some other cities were scaled back or called off due to shortages of Russian troops and arms at the front in Ukraine.Īuthorities nationwide organised the traditional “Immortal Regiment” processions, in which people carry portraits of relatives who fought against the Nazis. Victory Day has become a central event under Putin, who says independent Ukraine represents a return of the World War II threat, but this year’s ceremony was a slimmed-down affair over security concerns as Russia’s war in Ukraine intensifies.Īfter Putin spoke, the military parade began with a band striking up and cannon firing a salute. Afterwards, they laid flowers at the eternal flame by the Kremlin walls. The leaders of former Soviet allies Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan were welcomed at the Kremlin before they took their places on the dais outside for a military parade. A real war has been unleashed against our homeland,” he said on Tuesday in a 10-minute speech on Moscow’s Red Square. “Today, civilization is again at a decisive turning point. President Vladimir Putin has told Russians that the world is at a turning point and they are engaged in a patriotic struggle as the country marked the anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
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