Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces in Ukraine were fighting for the future of their motherland, in his annual address marking victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two. Despite rumours he would make a major announcement his speech stuck largely to defending Russia’s invasion. He tied the war in Ukraine to victory in 1945, blaming the West and Nato for rejecting security demands. Almost 10 weeks into the invasion, civilian casualties continue to mount. A Russian attack on a school on Sunday is thought to have claimed the lives of 60 civilians and Ukrainian towns in the Luhansk region came under further bombardment on Monday. Flanked by military top brass, Russia’s leader spoke of Ukrainians as fascists, repeating his false claim that the democratic government in Kyiv was run by neo-Nazis. ‘Obvious threat to us’ Defending the motherland had always been sacred, he said, referring to the eastern region which is now the main focus of Russia’s assault: “Today you are fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of Russia, our homeland.” He also made unfounded allegations against Nato and Ukraine and described the invasion as a pre-emptive rebuff: “They were preparing a punishing operation in Donbas to intrude on our historic lands. In Kyiv they were saying they might get nuclear weapons and Nato started exploring the lands close to us, and that became an obvious threat to us and our borders.” (…) Small acts of protest did take place in Russia. Programme guides on smart TVs were hacked with an anti-war message saying “on your hands is the blood of thousands of Ukrainians”. The front page of news website Lenta was also sabotaged with 10 detailed stories with headlines including “Russia leaves the corpses of its soldiers in Ukraine”.
via bbc: Putin says Russia fighting for motherland in Ukraine in Victory Day speech
siehe auch: Ukraine War: Putin’s Victory Day speech fact-checked. President Putin has addressed a military parade in Moscow to mark victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, and made a number of claims about Ukraine and Nato. We’ve checked some of the things he said. (…) President Putin has frequently claimed the presence of neo-Nazis in Ukraine as a justification for Russia’s invasion. At the last parliamentary election in 2019, support for far-right candidates was just 2% – far lower than in many other European countries. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish and members of his family died in the Holocaust. In the 2019 presidential election which Mr Zelensky won, the main far-right candidate won just 1.6% of the vote. But there have been far-right groups in Ukraine – the most high-profile is the Azov regiment – elements of which have expressed support for Nazi ideology. It was formed to resist Russian-backed separatists, who seized areas of eastern Ukraine in 2014, and was subsequently absorbed as a unit within the Ukrainian military. The term “Banderites” refers to supporters of the World War Two nationalist leader Stepan Bandera, who expressed anti-Semitic views and for a time collaborated with Nazi Germany. He remains a highly controversial figure in Ukraine, some hailing him as a patriotic nationalist, others condemning him for his Nazi sympathies.
siehe auch: Nazis, invasion threat to Russia, NATO: Full transcript of Putin’s Victory Day speech. Russian President Vladimir Putin used his Victory Day address during Moscow’s celebration of the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II to urge Russian troops to continue fighting in Ukraine, likening Ukrainians to Nazis and claiming NATO was planning to invade Russia. Read the full transcript of Putin’s speech below