MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday tried to describe Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as a forced response to Western policy and a necessary move to repel potential aggression.
Speaking at a military parade in Red Square marking victory in World War II over the Nazis, Putin drew parallels between the Red Army’s battles against Nazi troops and the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine.
While criticizing the West, Putin gave no indication of a change in strategy, nor did he indicate a broad mobilization, as some in Ukraine and the West fear.
Addressing the phalanx of elite Russian troops filling Red Square, Putin said the campaign in Ukraine was a necessary move to prevent what he described as “a threat that was absolutely unacceptable to us (which) was methodically created to our borders.” “.
“The danger grows with each passing day,” he said, adding that “Russia has given a preventive response to aggression” in what he described as “forced, timely and the only right decision for a sovereign, powerful and independent country.” ”
The Russian leader has repeatedly accused Ukraine of harboring aggressive intentions with the support of the United States and its allies, allegations denied by Ukrainian and Western officials.
In a parade speech, Putin rebuked the West for failing to comply with Russia’s demands for security guarantees and a return to NATO enlargement, arguing that this left Moscow with no choice but to launch an operation in Ukraine.
The Russian leader stressed that Russian troops are fighting for the country’s security in Ukraine and called for a minute of silence in honor of the fallen soldiers. Putin noted that some of the soldiers participating in the parade fought in Ukraine.
He said that the troops in Ukraine “fought for the Motherland so that no one would forget the lessons of World War II and there would be no place in the world for executioners, executioners and Nazis.”
Victory Day, which Russia celebrates on May 9, is the country’s most important holiday, celebrated with military parades and fireworks across the country.
The Soviet Union lost an incredible 27 million people in World War II, which he called the Great Patriotic War. The conflict, which devastated the country and caused great suffering, left a deep mark on the national psyche.
Some in Ukraine and the West expected Putin to use his speech at the parade to move from describing Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which Russian authorities called a “special military operation,” to calling it war.
Putin did not make such a change in rhetoric, nor did he give any indication that the Kremlin could change its strategy and announce a broad mobilization to strengthen the ranks.
The Kremlin has focused on Ukraine’s eastern industrial center, known as Donbass, where Moscow-backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014. The conflict erupted weeks after Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula.
The Russian military rearmed and supplied its forces withdrawn from areas near Kyiv and other regions in northeastern Ukraine and moved them to Donbass in an apparent attempt to encircle and destroy the most capable and experienced Ukrainian troops stationed there.
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