Russia Victory Day parade: Won't allow any threats — Putin
Around 9,000 troops were reportedly set to participate in Thursday’s parade, including some who had been fighting in Ukraine
- Russia holds major annual Moscow military parade marking Nazi Germany’s capitulation in WWII
- President Vladimir Putin told troops that Russia was trying to prevent global confrontation, but that it would not tolerate threats
- He said the country’s nuclear forces were ‘always’ at combat readiness
- Western leaders are not attending but several of Russia’s allies dispatched delegations
- Russia marks the anniversary a day later than western Europe and the US, and Ukraine, which changed from May 9 to May 8 last year
Putin accuses ‘arrogant’ Western countries of risking wider war
President Vladimir Putin accused the West of risking a global conflict with its response to the invasion of Ukraine during his speech to soldiers at the parade.
He said that “arrogant” leaders in the West had forgotten the role the Soviet Union had played in World War II. He also accused them of stoking conflicts throughout the world.
“Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash. But at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us,” Putin said, before alluding to the country’s nuclear capabilities. “Our strategic forces are always in a state of combat readiness.”
He said Russia was currently going through a “difficult, crucial period,” and that its fate and future “depends on each of us.”
Putin often portrays the clash with the West amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as part of a wider process of Western countries provoking Russia, as he would phrase it, by encroaching on its sphere of influence in eastern Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The president, this week sworn in for another term, also hailed the bravery of troops engaged in Ukraine and called for a minute’s silence towards the end of his address.