Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that his soldiers in Ukraine were fighting an “aggressive force” backed by all of NATO, and that the Russian army’s cause was “just,” as he addressed an annual Victory Day parade on Red Square.
“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin said in his address, referring to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward,” he said, adding later: “I firmly believe that our cause is just.”
Events for Victory Day, which commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, are set to be scaled back amid security fears and signs of fatigue over the more than four-year war on Ukraine.
The parade was set to feature no military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades after a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on energy sites across Russia.
Both Russia and Ukraine agreed a three-day ceasefire for the occasion following a last minute appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The parade kicked off shortly after 10:00 a.m. Moscow time (07:00 GMT) with a formation of soldiers carrying the Russian flag into the square, state television showed.
Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov could be seen congratulating soldiers, including some from the North Korean army.
For the first time, a veteran of the full-scale invasion of in Ukraine was seated next to President Vladimir Putin during the parade, the exiled outlet Agentsvo reported.
Leonid Ryzhov, who commanded a motorized rifle brigade involved in fighting in Ukraine’s Luhansk region in the early months of the invasion, could be seen sitting at Putin’s left on the reviewing stand.
To Putin’s right sat Svet Turunov, a Soviet World War II veteran who served in artillery units on the Leningrad and 4th Ukrainian fronts. From 1976 to 1990, Turunov served as an aide to the Soviet defense minister.
Also seated nearby was Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, accompanied by his son Nikolai Lukashenko.
In past years, the seats closest to Putin during the Victory Day parade were typically reserved for veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union’s fight against Nazi Germany in World War II.
This story is being updated.
AFP contributed reporting.
