Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his speech on the anniversary of the victory in World War II held on the Red Square in Moscow on the 9th, “The West’s preparations to invade our (Russia) territory, including the Crimean Peninsula (southern Ukraine), were going on outright. ” justified the invasion of Ukraine. During his 11-minute speech that day, Putin blamed the West for the war, saying it was “a preemptive response to the Western offensive.”
The British daily The Guardian reported on the same day that “there were no major announcements (expected by the Western authorities) in Putin’s speech. There was no official declaration of war (all-out war) against Ukraine, no general mobilization order (for this purpose), no threat to use nuclear weapons,” he said. The deadlock between the Ukrainian army, which received large-scale weapons support from the West, and the Russian army, which is intensifying the classic offensive, is likely to be prolonged.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the same day that “the road to victory is difficult, but there is no doubt that we will win.”
Britain ‘appears a little desperate’ at Putin’s speech
Putin, who entered the military parade that day, had a generally dark expression, except for a brief smile when he shook hands with World War II veterans and waved to citizens. The fact that there was no declaration of victory in the eastern Donbas region, where Putin had declared occupation, has nothing to do with the fact that some Russian troops are struggling, such as retreating or delayed occupation. Russia has been bombarding the Azoustal Steelworks, the last port of war, without capturing Mariupol, a key point connecting the southern Crimean Peninsula and Donbas. The fact that a bomb was dropped on a school on the outskirts of Lugansk on the 7th, killing more than 60 civilians while evacuating, also shows that the area was not completely taken over. “The Russian offensive operation to occupy the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of Donbas is not progressing,” said the American think tank Institute for War Research (ISW).
Nevertheless, Putin said the Russian army was “fighting on our territory”. The British Financial Times said, “It is claiming that the territory of Ukraine, including the southeast part of the Russian army, is Russian territory.”
“The death of all soldiers and officers is painful for us,” Putin said in a speech, promising compensation for the casualties. It is interpreted as an attempt to appease public sentiment in a situation where casualties are greatly increasing. Ukrainian forces claim that 25,000 Russians were killed. This is close to 20% of the 130,000 people who were sent to the border.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said of Putin’s speech, “It looks a little desperate” and that “as Putin, he believes only what he wants to believe.”
Russia ‘destroys NATO countries in 30 minutes in case of nuclear war’
At the parade that lasted for about three hours, Russia did not show the air command and control device ‘Doomsday’, which was expected to appear in preparation for nuclear war. Prior to the parade, the Kremlin, the office of the Russian president, canceled an air show that mobilized 77 fighters due to bad weather. The British Telegraph, which broadcast the military parade live, raised questions, saying, “If you look at the weather without rain, it doesn’t seem like the weather is bad.”
However, the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ‘RS-24 Yars’ and the tactical nuclear weapon Iskander, which can disable the US missile defense system (MD), appeared at the parade.
According to Fox News on the same day, Dmitry Rogozin, president of the Russian Federation, said that if a nuclear war broke out, the NATO countries would be destroyed in 30 minutes.
Paris = Correspondent Yunjong Kim [email protected]
Cairo = Correspondent Hwang Seong-ho [email protected]