Putin says Russian troops face Nato-backed force at Victory Day parade

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russian forces fighting in Ukraine were confronting an aggressive force backed by the entire Nato alliance, as he used his address at the annual Victory Day parade in Red Square to defend Moscow’s war aims.

Putin has long placed the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II at the centre of his political narrative, and the May 9 parade is typically staged with elaborate ceremony. This year’s event, however, was reduced in scale after a series of recent long-range Ukrainian attacks prompted the Kremlin to tighten security arrangements.

The parade was significantly smaller than in previous years. No military hardware was displayed, marking the first such absence in nearly 20 years, and attendance by foreign leaders was limited largely to close Russian allies.

In his speech, delivered before Russian military formations and soldiers from North Korea, Putin linked the legacy of World War II to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today.

he said.

They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire Nato bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward.

Putin said.

I firmly believe that our cause is just.

he added.

Three-day ceasefire

Russia and Ukraine observed a three-day ceasefire over the Victory Day events after two earlier truce attempts by both sides failed this week. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the pause in fighting would begin from May 9.

Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard-fought War.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the ceasefire would be accompanied by an exchange of prisoners.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on Friday instructing the Ukrainian military not to strike the parade. In a separate statement, he said Kyiv would observe the ceasefire to allow the exchange of 1,000 detainees from each side.

Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be returned home.

Zelensky said.

According to the Ukrainian air force and the Russian defence ministry, drone attacks declined overnight.

Before Trump’s announcement, Zelensky had rejected the idea of a truce tied to the parade and had warned Russia’s allies against attending. Russia had threatened a massive strike on central Kyiv if Ukraine disrupted the commemoration and had urged foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital ahead of the event.

Security in Moscow was visibly tight before the parade, with AFP reporters seeing deserted streets, while mobile internet services were also disrupted.

The leaders of Belarus, Malaysia and Laos, along with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, were expected to attend. That contrasted with last year’s event, which included higher-profile guests such as Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Zelensky also said on Friday that he hoped US envoys would travel to Ukraine in the coming weeks in an effort to revive talks aimed at ending the war.

Now in its fifth year, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Efforts mediated by the United States to end the fighting have made little headway since February, when Washington shifted its focus to its war against Iran.