Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the West of stoking a global conflict and asserted that Russia will try to prevent a global clash but would not let itself be threatened. He was addressing massed ranks of Russian servicemen on Red Square on the occasion of Victory Day, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's win over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
As Russian troops advance against Ukraine's Western-backed forces, Putin accused "arrogant" Western elites of forgetting the decisive role played by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany, and of stoking conflicts across the world. "We know what the exorbitance of such ambitions leads to. Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash," he said.
"But at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always in a state of combat readiness," said the Russian President, who casts the Ukraine war as part of the struggle with the West, which he says humiliated Russia after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 by encroaching on what he considers Moscow's sphere of influence.
Ukraine and the West say Putin is engaged in an imperial-style land grab. They have vowed to defeat Russia, which currently controls about 18 per cent of Ukraine, including Crimea, and parts of four regions in eastern Ukraine. Russia says the lands, once part of the Russian empire, are now again part of Russia.
Putin's previous threats
As tensions between Russia and the West have fallen to their lowest level due to the Ukraine conflict, Putin has escalated his rhetoric against the United States and its allies, even warning of a "World War III" if NATO troops entered Ukraine to fight against Russian forces. Prior to that, he also stressed that Russia is ready for nuclear war, but maintained that Moscow was not willing for a global clash.
"In the West, they would like to forget the lessons of the Second World War... But we remember that the fate of mankind was decided in the grand battles near Moscow and Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk and Kharkiv, near Minsk, Smolensk and Kyiv, in heavy, bloody battles from Murmansk to the Caucasus and Crimea," he said.
Russian officials warn that the Ukraine war is entering the most dangerous phase to date, a crisis that has deepened in recent weeks. US President Joe Biden signed off on $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, Britain said that Ukraine had the right to strike Russia with British weapons, and French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to rule out sending French troops to fight Russian forces.
Russia responded on Monday by announcing it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the US. It was the first time that Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, though its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises.
Victory Day parade
In a much pared-down parade indicating the strains of war, Russia showed off just one T-34 tank. Fighters flew past streaming the Russian tricolour. The parade also featured Russia's Yars intercontinental strategic missile which a TV announcer said has "a guaranteed capability to strike a target on any point of the globe"
The parade included leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau. No leaders from the West were present on the occasion. Victory Day is a key anniversary for President Vladimir Putin, who often evokes the spirit and sacrifice that helped the Soviet Union defeat Nazi Germany in 1945 to kindle Russians' sense of patriotism.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in 1945. Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender came into force at 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, marked as "Victory in Europe Day" by France, Britain 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.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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