At Victory Day parade in Russia, Putin calls war “the only possible solution”, doesn’t announce mobilisation

Monday, 9 May 2022, 10:31

During a Victory Day parade on Monday, 9 May, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said that Russia’s invasion in Ukraine "nipped" NATO’s aggression "in the bud." He did not announce a full-scale mobilisation.

Source: Vladimir Putin during a Krasnaya Ploshchad [Red Square] address broadcast by the Russian media

Quote from Putin: "I congratulate you on the day of the great victory. The defence of the Motherland, when its fate was decided, has always been sacred ... And these days you are fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of our Motherland, Russia."

Details: Putin mentioned past battles and "Soviet people as one."

According to him, Russia "has always advocated the creation of a system of equal and indivisible security" so that the horrors of global war would not repeat.

The President of the Russian Federation mentioned the unsuccessful blackmail of the Western world by Russia and again named several reasons for the war, without mentioning that Russian troops were amassing near the borders of Ukraine for almost a year before the invasion.

Quote: "Last December (2021), we proposed an agreement on security guarantees. Russia called on the West to have an honest dialogue, to find clever compromising solutions, to take into account each other's interests. It was all in vain. NATO countries did not want to hear us. They had entirely different plans.

Open preparations were underway for the next punitive operation in Donbas, for the invasion of our historic lands, including the Crimea. Kiev announced the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc has begun active military development of the territories adjacent to us. Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat for us was created right next to our borders.

All indications were that a clash with the neo-Nazis, the Banderites, on which the United States and its younger companions banked, would be inevitable. We have seen the development of military infrastructure, the work of hundreds of foreign advisers, and the regular supply of state-of-the-art weapons from NATO countries was ongoing.

The danger grew with each passing day, and Russia gave a pre-emptive rebuff against the aggression. It was a forced, timely and the only right decision - the decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country."

Details: Putin declared that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States "began to talk about its uniqueness, thereby humiliating not only the world but also its own satellites, who have to pretend that they do not notice anything and humbly swallow it all."

"But we are a different kind of country, Russia has a different character. We will never give up love for the Motherland, faith and traditional values, ancestral traditions, respect for all peoples and cultures. And the West seems to have decided to cancel these millennia-long values. Such moral degradation has become the basis for the cynical falsification of World War II history," Putin said.

He accused the world of "inciting Russophobia" and "praising traitors."

The Russian president declared that "today the militias of Donbas together with Russian army fighters are fighting on their land", that they are fighting for the Motherland, its future, " So that there is no place in the world for executioners, castigators and Nazis."

Putin promised to support wounded soldiers and officers and the families of those killed in Ukraine.

"Glory to our valiant Armed Forces! For Russia, for victory, hooray!" He said in a trembling voice, concluding his speech.

In his speech, Putin did not declare the official start of the war or conscription, as intelligence and experts had suggested.

There were no representatives of other countries at the parade. In his speech, Putin said that American veterans had been "forbidden" to attend the parade in Moscow.

Previously: In a statement on the 77th anniversary of the victory over the Nazis, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to twist history to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.

On 24 February, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, preceded by the occupation of Crimea, parts of Donbas, and eight years of hybrid warfare against Ukraine. Putin calls the war in Ukraine a "special military operation" by Russia.