JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin evokes memories of the Soviet Union's heroism in World War Two, to inspire his soldiers to fight in Ukraine, but offers no new roadmap to victory.
Speaking to his soldiers following the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany on Red Square, President Putin condemned what he called external threats to weaken and divide Russia, repeating the arguments he used to justify Russia's February 24 invasion, NATO creating threats. right next to the border.
He directly addressed soldiers fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which Russia has promised to be 'liberated' from Kyiv control.
"You are fighting for your homeland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, hunters and Nazis," he said.
His speech included a minute's silence. "The death of every one of our soldiers and officers is a shared sadness, an irreparable loss to their friends and relatives," Putin said, pledging that the state would look after their children and families.
President Putin has repeatedly likened the war, which he describes as the battle against dangerous Nazi-inspired nationalists in Ukraine, to the challenges the Soviet Union faced when Hitler invaded in 1941.
Preceded by an electrifying fanfare, President Putin delivered his address after a group of eight guards marched across the cobblestone streets of Red Square carrying the Russian tricolor flag and the red banner of the Soviet hammer and sickle victory, accompanied by electrifying martial arts music.
The combat troops responded with thunderous cheers as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu crossed the square in a black limousine, saluting units including missile units, national guard and paratroopers and congratulating them on the anniversary.
Putin's speech was followed by a parade across a wide field featuring Russia's newest Armata and T-90M Proryv tanks, multi-launch rocket systems to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, the Russian air power fly-past which was originally planned as a celebration parade before, was canceled this time due to cloudy conditions.
President Putin then laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, placing a red carnation at the memorial to commemorate the Soviet City of Heroes who fought Hitler's forces. They include Kyiv and Odesa, a reminder of the heavy losses suffered by Ukraine and Russia in the war. He spoke to Russia on one of his most important annual holidays, when the country honors the 27 million Soviet fighters who lost their lives in the struggle to defeat Adolf Hitler, sources said. national pride and identity.
But President Putin had no victory to announce in Ukraine and his 11-minute speech, on the 75th day of the invasion, was largely infamous for what he didn't say.
He did not name Ukraine, did not give an assessment of progress in the war and gave no indication of how long the war would continue. There is no reference to the bloody battle for Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters hiding in the ruins of the Azovstal steel mill, are still fighting back against the Russian invasion.
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