He did not comment on Monday about the continuation of the faltering Russian invasion of Ukraine. Contrary to predictions by the Ukrainian authorities, Putin did not announce a general mobilization. Nor did he make a formal declaration of war.
In his short speech (11 minutes), Putin drew parallels between the Soviet Union’s struggle against Nazi Germany and the current struggle in Ukraine ‘against aggressors’. He said the Russian armed forces in Ukraine are showing that “there is no place for executioners, punishers and Nazis.” He told Russian soldiers in Ukraine: “Today you are defending what your fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought for.”
Victory Day is the most important holiday of the year for Putin. Military parades and patriotic festivities take place all over Russia. Russians have been invited by e-mail by the government to participate in parades in which they honor victims and veterans of the Second World War and of the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.
‘Brave death’
The minute’s silence for the 27 million Soviet victims of World War II this year was also for Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, Putin said. ‘We bow our heads before our comrades in arms, who died a brave death in a just fight. In the fight for Russia.’
A setback for Putin was the cancellation of the air show over Moscow, which concludes the military parade annually. This year, fighters were supposed to fly over Red Square in a formation of the letter Z (symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), but that was not possible on Monday due to “weather conditions,” Putin’s spokesman said.
Russia’s war in Ukraine in recent months did not bring Putin the victories he hoped for. The Russian army was defeated at Kyiv and driven back in many other places by Ukraine’s much smaller army. However, Russia conquered territory in the east and south of Ukraine.