Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West this Thursday (9) of risking a global conflict and said that no one would be allowed to threaten the world‘s largest nuclear power.
The statements came as Russia commemorates the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
As Russian troops advance against Western-backed forces in Ukraine, Putin accused “arrogant” Western elites of forgetting the decisive role played by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany and fueling conflicts around the world.
“We know where the exorbitance of such ambitions leads. Russia will do everything to avoid a global confrontation,” Putin said on Red Square.
“But at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always in a state of combat readiness.”
Putin, who sent his army to Ukraine in 2022, classifies the war as part of a fight with the West, which, according to him, humiliated Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, by invading what he considers to be the Moscow’s sphere of influence.
Ukraine and the West say Putin is involved in an imperial-style land grab.
They have vowed to defeat Russia, which currently controls about 18% of Ukraine, including Crimea, and parts of four regions in eastern Ukraine.
Russia says the lands, which were once part of the Russian empire, are now part of Russia again.
Guerra?
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War II, including many millions in Ukraine, but ultimately pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Hitler committed suicide and the red flag of Soviet victory was raised over the Reichstag in 1945.
“In the West, they would like to forget the lessons of World War II,” Putin said, adding that Russia honored all allies involved in the defeat of Nazi Germany, mentioning the Chinese people’s struggle against Japanese militarism.
“But we remember that the fate of humanity was decided in great battles near Moscow and Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk and Kharkiv, near Minsk, Smolensk and Kiev, in heavy and bloody battles from Murmansk to the Caucasus and Crimea.”
The unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany came into effect at 11:01 pm on May 8, 1945, marked as “Victory in Europe Day” by France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union’s “Victory Day” in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45.
In a greatly reduced parade indicating the tensions of war, Russia today displayed just one T-34 tank. The fighters flew past the Russian tricolor.
The parade also featured Russia’s Yars intercontinental strategic missile, which a TV announcer said had a “guaranteed ability to hit a target anywhere on the globe.”
There were no leaders from the West.
The leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau were present.
Russian officials warn that the war in Ukraine is entering its most dangerous phase to date – Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a much wider war involving the world‘s biggest nuclear powers.
The crisis has deepened in recent weeks: US President Joe Biden signed $61 billion in aid to Ukraine; The UK said Ukraine had the right to attack Russia with British weapons; and French President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out sending French troops to fight Russian forces.
Russia responded on Monday by announcing it would practice deploying tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise, following what Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States.
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