Putin Gears Up For ‘Grandest’ Victory Day Amid Ukraine Conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the “grandest” ever annual Victory Day parade in Moscow on Friday, evoking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II to rally support for his troops fighting in Ukraine.
Russia marks the event more than three years into its offensive, and after pummelling Ukraine with a string of deadly attacks in April despite US President Donald Trump pushing for a peace deal.
The Kremlin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since become embroiled in a huge conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
Putin has ordered a three-day truce in Ukraine to coincide with the event — which Kyiv has denounced as a ceasefire “just for the parade”.
Ukraine — which has hit Russia and Moscow with drones during the conflict — has said it cannot take responsibility for what happens in Russia and has said some countries approached it to request safety for their leaders attending the parade.
Three days before the Red Square military parade, it fired over 100 drones at Russia overnight, including at Moscow, forcing the capital’s major airports to close for hours.
Despite the shadow of the conflict, officials promise that commemorations this year — the 80th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis — will be the “grandest” to date.
During the 25 years of Putin’s rule, the Kremlin has turned May 9 into a holiday celebrating statehood and patriotism.
It is marked with a grand military parade on Red Square, where Putin addresses the nation.
Putin has used WWII narratives to justify sending troops to Ukraine, vowing in 2022 to “de-Nazify” the country and since comparing the current conflict to the Soviet war effort.
He has repeatedly accused the West of not recognising Moscow’s feats in WWII and has argued that the Soviet Union was the war’s main victor.
Ahead of celebrations, Putin singled out the Russian nation — out of all Soviet peoples — for praise in defeating the Nazis.
“All the peoples of the Soviet Union put in a huge input… But, of course, because of its size, the Russian Federation, of course, put in the maximum contribution to this victory,” he told school children in Moscow last week.
