A parade is held in Moscow on the occasion of May 9th. During a speech at the parade, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had delivered a "preemptive strike" by launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, and that it was "the only right decision." It is reported by Radio Svoboda.
Putin called the reason for this the actions of the United States and NATO countries, which, according to him, denied Russia security guarantees and were preparing Ukraine for an attack on Russian "historical lands", including the temporarily occupied Crimea.
On the eve of Victory Day, a number of British and American media reported that due to the failures of the Russian army, the Kremlin dictator could declare war on Ukraine or announce mobilization. But he did not make such statements. Instead, during his speech, he mentioned Donbas six times, NATO — three times, Banderite — once, and Russophobia — once. In 2021, he spoke only about Russophobia, Current Time recalls.
"In December last year, we proposed to conclude an agreement on security guarantees. In vain — the NATO countries did not want to hear us. Preparations were openly underway for a punitive operation in Donbas. A threat was created directly at our borders. A clash with neo-Nazis was inevitable," the Russian president said.
It should be noted that before the start of the parade, it became known that aviation would not be shown in Moscow this year. Recall: earlier, the Moscow mayor's office spent billions to disperse clouds over the Russian capital in order to hold the air part of the parade. On May 6, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that supersonic fighter jets, Tu-160 strategic bombers and, for the first time since 2010, the Doomsday Il-80 command aircraft, which can carry Russia's senior leadership in case of a nuclear war, would participate in the parade.
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