Russian cruise missiles exploded in the air over Kyiv as Vladimir Putin marked the anniversary of victory over the Nazis with a fresh overnight attack on Ukraine.
Speaking at the 78th annual celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany in Moscow’s Red Square, the Russian president said the “survival of the Russian people” depended on the war in Ukraine as he used his Victory Day speech to defend his invasion of the country.
“Today, civilisation is again at a decisive, turning point, a real war has been unleashed against us again,” Putin said as he delivered an angry speech in which he drew false parallels between today’s fight with Ukraine’s “criminal regime” and the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
“We are proud of the participants of the special military operation. The future of our people depends on you,” he said, standing on the Red Square podium.
Putin also blamed the west for “destroying traditional values” and propagandising a “system of robbery and violence”.
“The goal of our enemies, and there is nothing new here, is to achieve the disintegration and destruction of our country,” the president said, striking a largely familiar tone and framing the war in Ukraine as a defensive battle unleashed on Russia.
“Here is to our victory!,” the Russian president exclaimed before leaving the podium.
Victory Day, when Russians celebrate the end of what they call the “great patriotic war” against Nazi Germany in 1945, has emerged as the centrepiece of Putin’s vision of Russian identity over his 23 years in charge.
Security concerns cast a shadow on this year’s Victory Day celebrations across Russia after two drones attacked the Kremlin last week. More than 20 cities across the country had scrapped their parades, including those several thousands of miles from the frontlines.
The traditional flyover in Moscow and St Petersburg was cancelled on Monday and the parade in the Russian capital was shorter than in previous years.
Observers also noticed that this year’s parade featured significantly less heavy modern equipment than in years past – including only one Soviet-era tank – a clear sign that the war in Ukraine has inflicted a heavy toll on the country’s military.
More than 500 Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine were present at the parade, according to state media.
The Russian president did receive a late PR boost on Monday when the heads of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Armenia – three post-Soviet countries that Moscow strives to keep in its orbit – announced they would attend the military parade on Red Square alongside Putin.
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Putin’s speech came hours after his country launched a fresh barrage of cruise missiles on Ukraine. Kyiv said its air defences shot down 23 of 25 missiles, fired chiefly at the capital, Kyiv, and there were no reported casualties.
“Overnight into the ‘sacred’ May 9, [they] launched an attack on the territory of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s air force said on its Telegram messaging app.
Sergei Popko, the head of the Kyiv city military administration, said the Russians were trying to kill civilians. He added: “As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed.”
Russia’s latest missile barrage came as both sides appeared to be preparing for a widely expected Ukrainian offensive Kyiv hopes will help recapture territory lost since the start of the war.
As Putin sought to rally his country through the memory of the second world war, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Monday said that “all the old evil that modern Russia is bringing back will be defeated just as Nazism was defeated”.
On Tuesday, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived in Kyiv for talks with the Ukranian leader.
“Good to be back in Kyiv,” Von der Leyen said on Twitter. “Where the values we hold dear are defended everyday.”
