May 9, 2022.
In his Victory Day speech on Monday, Putin tried to draw parallels between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Soviet Union's fight against Nazi Germany, but did not make any announcements about mass mobilization for the war contrary to some Western predictions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech during the Victory Day military parade.
Russian soldiers are fighting for the same thing their fathers and grandfathers did, Putin said.
The Russian President said that the invasion of Ukraine was inevitable and that he was forced into it by NATO.
During his speech, Putin called for a minute of silence for the Russian soldiers who have been killed in the conflict.
Some had predicted that Putin was preparing for a long conflict and that he did not declare any victory for Russian in the Donbas region or Mariupol.
The Russian President's speech did not mention a formal declaration of war against Ukraine, as some other observers had predicted, which would allow him to send Russia's reserve troops to the battlefield.
The Victory Day military parade featured several soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles but a planned flyover of military jets did not take place due to bad weather.
The heroes of the Great Patriotic War (World War 2) defended to the death the land of the Russian army and the Donbas militia, and Putin claimed without evidence that Ukraine had been preparing to do the same.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Putin of repeating the horrors of Hitler in a video message on Victory Day. Someone will not have any left.
Putin invoked World War II, but did not signal an increase in hostilities.
Putin channels victory over Hitler to the Russian army.
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