The Russian president, freshly re-appointed for a fifth term at the head of the Russian Federation, paid tribute to the Soviet soldiers who fell during the Second World War.
A speech that is always extremely scrutinized. During his speech on Red Square for the May 9 military parade, amid tensions linked to the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that his country’s strategic nuclear forces are “always” ready for combat.
“Russia will do everything to avoid a global confrontation. But, at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic (nuclear) forces are always on alert,” declared the Russian president.
More than 9,000 soldiers, according to Russian media, armored vehicles, missile launchers and planes took part.
“Hard time”
A sign of an ever deeper break with the West, he recently ordered the holding of tactical nuclear exercises, involving troops stationed near Ukraine, in response to Western “threats” targeting Russia.
On Thursday, Vladimir Putin accused the West of wanting to “forget the lessons” of the Second World War and asserted that Moscow, which presents itself as a counterweight to Anglo-Saxon influence, rejected “the pretension to exclusivity” of any government or alliance.
Then he reaffirmed, as during his inauguration speech this week, that Russia, in the midst of a conflict against Ukraine, was going through a “difficult period”. “The destiny of the homeland and its future depend on each of us,” he said, saluting the “heroes” who fight for Moscow on the front.
Vladimir Putin, 71, presents the assault on kyiv as an existential conflict and promises “victory” to his fellow citizens on each occasion in a fight against a Ukrainian government presented as “neo-Nazi”.
The head of the Kremlin has long mobilized the memory of the Second World War – which left 27 million dead on the Soviet side – to present himself as heir to the power of the USSR and legitimize his own power.
