Moscow
Putin delivers a sharp accusatory speech against the West on “Victory Day” in Moscow. But the fear of defeat is palpable.
Vladimir Putin tries briefly, but all the more forcefully. The Russian President spoke less than a quarter of an hour on this “Victory Day” in Moscow. At the 9th of May the country commemorates the end of the Second World War every year.
But in times of invasion in the Ukraine people in Russia and around the world listen in a completely different way. What will Putin say about the war of the present, what targets issue? But hardly a word about that. The head of the Kremlin prefers to launch a verbal sweeping attack on Red Square.
Putin on the war: President gradually under pressure
Like the Nazis in 1941, the West has again “initiated a war against our fatherland,” says Putin, thereby opening one sharp accusation. True to the motto: Attack is the best form of defence. Because of course the president is under pressure because there are no military successes in Ukraine. So he accuses “the globalist elites” in the US and Europe. They wanted to impose their will on other peoples and destroy Russia.
Putin is framed by World War II veterans in the VIP gallery. This forms the backdrop so that he can strike the big historical bow. From the “monstrous evil” of Hitlerite fascism to that “holy war”, which the Russian army leads today. Once again, it is what Putin’s critics call a “cynical perpetrator-victim reversal.” In Ukraine, “we have to ward off an invasion,” is a key message from the Kremlin chief.
Ukraine war: Putin shoots at West
Putin rehearses the frontal attack against the westto close your ranks. This is always necessary, because in the reality of war the Russian army is under pressure. A Ukrainian counteroffensive could begin any day. But Putin said nothing about that on May 9th. In any case, what the Kremlin boss omits is more revealing. Not a word of new operational targets, for example in the hard-fought Donbass city of Bakhmut. Not a hint of a dispute between mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and the army leadership.
Before Putin’s speech, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is allowed to receive the order of the day from the guard of honor on Red Square as if there were no argument. As if Prigozhin hadn’t verbally abused the minister. Putin, in turn, ended his speech with the traditional cheer, which the soldiers responded to with a triple cheer. Then the usual military parade begins. All under extreme security precautions. Even balloons and e-cigarettes are forbidden in the audience this time. Anyone who listens and looks closely will recognize this “Day of the victory” one thing above all in Moscow: the fear of defeat.
Ukraine Crisis – The most important news about the war
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