MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday called Moscow’s military action on Ukraine as an urgent response to Western politics and a necessary step to prevent potential aggression.
Speaking at a military parade in Red Square to celebrate his victory against the Nazis during World War II, Putin drew similarities between the fight against Nazi troops in the Red Army and the deployment of Russian forces. in Ukraine.
Cursing the West, Putin did not indicate a change of strategy or give any indication that he intended to announce a broad mobilization, as feared by some in Ukraine and the West.
Responding to the phalanx of elite Russian troops filling Red Square, Putin said the campaign in Ukraine was a necessary step to prevent what he described as “a completely unacceptable threat (that) was made by of the way to our borders “.
“The threat is growing,” he said, adding that “Russia has provided a preventive response to the aggression,” which he described as “a forced, timely and only fair decision of a sovereign, strong and independent country.” . “
The Russian leader has repeatedly accused Ukraine of aggressive intentions, supported by the United States and its allies – a statement refuted by Ukrainian and Western officials.
Speaking at the parade, Putin again lashed out at the West for ignoring Russia’s demands for security guarantees and withdrawing from NATO expansion, arguing that Moscow had no choice but to act on Ukraine.
The Russian leader stressed that Russian troops are fighting for national security in Ukraine and observed a minute of silence in honor of the soldiers killed in the fighting. Putin noted that some of the soldiers who participated in the parade had previously fought in Ukraine.
According to him, the troops in Ukraine fought “for the homeland, so that no one would forget the lessons of World War II and not be left in the world as a refuge, butchers and Nazis”.
Victory Day, celebrated by Russia on May 9, is the country’s most important holiday, celebrated through military parades and fireworks across the country.
The Soviet Union lost as many as 27 million people in World War II, which it called the Great Patriotic War. The fighting, which devastated the country and caused great suffering, left a deep scar on the national psyche.
Some in Ukraine and the West expect Putin to use his speech at the parade to describe a Russian operation in Ukraine that Russian officials called a “special military operation” and called it a war.
Putin did not make such a change in rhetoric and did not imply that the Kremlin could change strategy and announce a broad mobilization to strengthen the ranks.
The Kremlin is focused on Ukraine’s eastern industrial zone, known as Donbass, where Moscow -backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014. The conflict erupted just weeks after Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine.
The Russian army re-armed and rebuilt its forces, which withdrew from nearby Kiev and other regions of northeastern Ukraine and moved them to the Donbass, apparently in an attempt to destroy and destroy the most capable Ukrainian troops, and there concentrated experts.
Source: Huffpost
