Vladimir Putin sought to justify the war again as a necessary response to what he falsely portrayed as a hostile Ukraine.
The Russian leader oversaw a Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square, watching as troops marched in formation and military hardware rolled past in a celebration of the Soviet Union’s role in the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany.
“The danger was rising by the day,” Putin said. “Russia has given a preemptive response to aggression. It was forced, timely and the only correct decision.”
Putin portrayed the fighting as a battle against Nazism, thereby linking the war to what many Russians regard as their finest hour: the triumph over Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what Russia refers to as the Great Patriotic War.
President Zelensky in his WWII victory day speech: ‘We won then. We will win now.’
“We will never forget what our ancestors did in World War II, which killed more than eight million Ukrainians,”
“Very soon, there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine,” he added.
Meanwhile three Russian missiles hit Odesa Oblast.
A Russian Tu-22 strategic bomber carried the Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles that destroyed five buildings in the region on the Ukrainian military’s Southern Operational Command said. Two people were injured.
The attack came on the day that the European Council president visits Odesa.
Charles Michel arrived in Odesa on May 9 to celebrate Europe Day. He met there with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and visited a local port.
Some 100 people came to St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv to say goodbye to esteemed war reporter Oleksandr Makhov.
Makhov joined Ukraine’s military when Russia began its invasion in February. He was killed near Izium, Kharkiv Oblast on May 4.
