ADVERTISEMENTUkraine cannot guarantee the safety of foreign officials who plan to attend the victory day Parade in Moscow on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Our position is very simple for all the countries that will go to Russia on May 9: we cannot be held responsible for what is happening in the territory of the Russian Federation,” said Ukrainian president on Saturday.
“They are responsible for your safety. We will not provide any guarantee, because we do not know what Russia could do on this date.”
This declaration caused new diplomatic tensions with Slovakia, including Prime Minister Robert Fico, favorable to Moscow, criticized the warning of the Ukrainian president.
“I reject such threats for security reasons,” said Fico on Monday. “I fully respect the fact that participants’ security is an internal question in the Russian Federation. But if Mr. Zelensky thinks that his statements will encourage foreign delegations not to come, he is heavy heavily”.
We do not know if Fico will indeed attend the parade. After the Slovak Prime Minister canceled some public appearances, including official Labor Day events, speculation has circulated that he may also not go to Moscow.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who also planned to go to Moscow alongside Fico, fell ill during a visit to the United States last week, shortening his trip and returning to Belgrade, where he was briefly hospitalized.
Fico and Vučić were the only European leaders to announce their participation in the Russian parade of the day of victory, a decision which aroused strong criticism from the European Union. In the case of Vučić, Brussels has issued a severe warning, indicating that the visit would violate the EU membership criteria and could potentially harm the Assistant process of Serbia in the 27 members’ block.
European politicians could be absent, but the most precious ally of Moscow and undoubtedly the most important guest will be present.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will take an official visit to Russia from May 7 to 10 to participate in the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Kremlin announced on Sunday.
What will be the security degree of the parade?
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a three-day ceasefire with Ukraine between May 7 and 9, during the celebration of the Victory Day. This idea was categorically rejected by Kyiv, Zelensky describing it as “theatrical representation” intended to alleviate the international isolation of Russia and to create an atmosphere favorable to the celebrations of the Victory Day in Moscow.
The Ukrainian President reportedly said that the proposal was not a serious attempt to end the war and reiterated Ukraine’s support for a United States and calling for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The Ukrainian President warned that the history of Moscow in the field of short -term truce violations were confidently confident in his latest offer.
“They kill until May 7, take a break of a few comfortable days, then start attacking on May 11,” he said.
On Monday, a few days before the parade, when rehearsals took place in the Russian capital, the authorities said that four drones had been intercepted during the night when they were approaching the city.
ADVERTISEMENTAccording to initial information, the fall in debris did not have injured or damage, said Mayor Sergei Sobianine on the Telegram messaging application.
This is not the first time that Ukrainian drones have reached Moscow. In mid-March, city authorities reported The largest drone attackwith more than 70 drones slaughtered according to the Russian air defense and the authorities of Moscow.
According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian drones can now fly much further and reach a range of 3,000 km.
Kyiv used long -range drones to deeply hit Russian territory, targeting military infrastructure such as aerodromes, oil refineries, deposits and logistics platforms.
ADVERTISEMENTRussia has already canceled the victory parade in the port city of Sébastopol, in occupied Crimea. The Governor of Sébastopol, installed by Moscow, said that the parade would not take place due to safety risks.
This announcement follows a Ukrainian maritime drone attack which would have destroyed a Russian fighter plane SU-30 near the port of Novorossiisk last Friday.
Ukrainian military intelligence services have described this operation as “unprecedented” because it is the first time that a maritime drone has shot a jet plane.
It is the third consecutive time that the parade has been canceled in Sébastopol. The occupied port city organized it for the last time in 2022, shortly after the start of the total invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
ADVERTISEMENTWhy is the day of victory so important for Putin?
For Moscow, May 9 is more than a victory party. Under Putin, He became one of the holidays the most important and A great demonstration of the military power of Russia.
It has become even more symbolic since the start of the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia at the beginning of 2022, because the Kremlin used the imagery and accounts of the Second World War to describe and support its total invasion.
In its war against Ukraine, Russia has taken over a series of slogans and symbols identical to those used by the Soviet Union during the Second World War, such as “we can do it again” or “we can repeat it”, widely used by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Likewise, the orange-black ribbon of Saint-Georges, which symbolized the victory of the Second World War, has become one of the most recognizable emblems of the massive invasion of Ukraine by Russia and is carried by the supporters of the attack of Moscow against the neighboring country.
ADVERTISEMENTMoscow has deliberately linked the two stories by language, using a language developed to create a substitution term involving greatness: for example, by calling its large -scale invasion of Ukraine “a special military operation” in the same way as the Second World War is called “the Great Patriotic War” in Russia.
Putin himself said on several occasions that “the Soviet people fought alone” during the Second World War, without taking into account the contribution of the allies (ironically, that’s what Donald Trump has just repeated Who wants on May 8 and November 11 to be renamed “days of victory” and affirms “we won the two wars”).
When he launched the large -scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin said that his main objectives were the country’s “denazification” and the “fight against fascism” – affirmations that Putin has never supported by evidence to date.
The popularization of this rhetoric and the glorification by Putin of the day of victory have their own term in Russian: “pobedobesie”, a pejorative word which means grotesque hyperbolic celebrations, or “victorymania”.
ADVERTISEMENTUkraine has distanced itself from the commemorations and the dates of the Soviet era. In 2023, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law moving the commemoration of the Second World War on May 8, which is in accordance with most European countries.
