In his speech on the day Russians celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany, Putin stressed the Russia-West dichotomy and spoke of a “criminal war” in which “Western elites divide society.”
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It was even thought that, due to the high tension between kyiv and Moscow, the speech would be online. But Vladimir Putin was present at the military parade of what is the second Victory Day celebration since the start of the offensive against Ukraine that began in February 2022. And it was in front of eight thousand soldiers that he put the West and its elites . , in the spotlight, accusing them of waging a “genuine war” against Russia and “destroying” “traditional family values”.
The Russian head of state continues to call the military conflict itself a “special military operation”, and only mentions the word “war” in the sense of a war of civilizations that he has been talking about for months, accentuating the dichotomy between Russia and the rest of the world. Western. “Current civilization is at a new turning point. A real war was once again unleashed against our Russia.. But we will resist international terrorism, and we will also defend the inhabitants of Donbass and guarantee our security, ”he said.
In his speech on the day he celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, which ended World War II in Europe, Putin even spoke of a “criminal war,” in which “Western elites continue to divide society.” .
The Russian president tried to hit the countries of the West and their “elites”, to “Russophobia”, to an “aggressive nationalism” and what he claims to be destruction of “traditional family values“. The West, he argues, wants to “impose its concepts and its repression”, “elevate the Nazis to world domination” and “build walls”.
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On the other hand, the citizens of Russia “have no feelings against the peoples of the West or the East.” They want “a stable and peaceful life,” he said.
The speech took place in Red Square, in Moscow, in front of dozens of soldiers and in the presence of several leaders of former Soviet republics, including Aleksandr Lukashenko, from Belarus, but also political representatives from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan. and Turkmenistan.
Praising the historical memory of the Second World War, Putin recalled the “heroes” of the past, but also those of the present, who are fighting in Ukraine, whom he thanked, after a minute of silence. “The future of our State and our people depends on you,” he defended. “There is nothing stronger than our love for the homeland, for Russia, for our armed forces, for victory,” he said at the end of his speech.
The parade was organized in an atmosphere of maximum tension. By the way, Red Square had been closed for the previous two weeks and the parade was reduced from normal due to fears of terrorism. The list of what would happen and the equipment that would be on display during the parade is usually available in advance, but this year this did not happen.
The parade was also shorter than usual. and ended after 20 minutes. “It’s the shortest parade I can remember seeing,” said Michael Clarke, a military analyst interviewed by Sky News. At the stop, Clarke identified one of the T-34 tanks, which were the “backbone of the Red Army against the Germans”.
Source: Observadora
