Russian President Vladimir Putin sought on Monday to cast Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as a forced response to Western policies, according to a report by Asharq Al-Awsat.
Speaking at a military parade marking the World War II victory over the Nazis, Putin drew parallels between the Red Army’s fighting against the Nazi troops and the Russian forces’ action in Ukraine.
He said the campaign in Ukraine was a timely and necessary move to ward off what he described as “an absolutely unacceptable threat just next to our borders.”
“The danger was rising” he said, adding that “Russia has preemptively repulsed an aggression” in what he described as a “forced, timely and the only correct decision by a sovereign, powerful and independent country.”
The Russian leader again scolded the West for failing to heed Russian demands for security guarantees and a rollback to NATO’s expansion, arguing that it left Moscow no other choice but to launch an action in Ukraine.
Putin claimed that Russian troops were fighting for the country’s security in Ukraine.
He directly addressed soldiers fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which Russia has pledged to “liberate” from Kyiv’s control.
“You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War Two. So that there is no place in the world for executioners and Nazis,” he said.
He observed a minute of silence to honor the troops who fell in combat.
Putin’s speech was followed by a parade across the vast square featuring Russia’s latest Armata and T-90M Proryv tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems and intercontinental ballistic missiles. A planned fly-past was cancelled because of cloudy conditions.
Putin noted that some of the troops taking part in the parade have previously fought in Ukraine.
Putin then laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and placed red carnations on memorials commemorating Soviet Hero Cities that resisted Hitler’s forces. They included Kyiv and Odesa – a reminder of the huge losses sustained by Ukrainians as well as Russians in the war.
