This Tuesday, Russia celebrates Victory Day in maximum security, at a time of high tension between Moscow and Kiev, with mutual accusations of airstrikes and fears on both sides of taking advantage of the event for new attacks.
Victory Day, which celebrates Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945, ending World War II in Europe, has become the centerpiece of the Moscow festivities, with a military parade on Red Square, access to which has been going on for several has been closed for days, but in At least 21 other Russian cities, or occupied regions in Ukraine, stopped.
The Russian president personally took charge of organizing the ceremonies after scheduling a speech, despite unconfirmed information from Ukrainian sources admitting that Vladimir Putin will only speak online.
While the vast majority of Russian military assets and soldiers are deployed in the invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, Putin has a habit of using symbolic dates to stage demonstrations of violence, marked this year by tight security restrictions, including a ban on “drones” and app transport services in the country’s largest cities and even “jet skis” on the canals of St. Petersburg
Security concerns have increased since Russia last week accused Ukraine of launching two “drones” into the Kremlin with the aim of assassinating Putin.
In addition to several independent assessments that the attack was staged, Kiev has denied Moscow’s allegations and also backed other acts of sabotage on Russian territory and bombings of annexed Crimea.
For its part, Ukraine has seen an increase in Russian airstrikes, which led to power cuts in six major regions of the country on Monday.
After another year of what Moscow called a “special military operation”, the situation on the ground reached stalemate, with remaining advances and withdrawals on both sides at the cost of heavy casualties, especially in Bakhmut (east), where since August the longest and bloodiest battle of this war, and when a Ukrainian counter-offensive is expected, which recently received heavy tanks and reinforcement of the armaments of its allies.
Putin views the invasion of Ukraine as an existential war for Russia’s survival, using, among other things, the “denazification” of the Kiev regime, which answers the accusation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compared the Russian offensive to Nazism and said that “this evil” will be defeated just like in 1945. land on May 8, similar to what is happening in the rest of Europe, or in the “free world” as he described it.
This change was praised by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, who will be in Kiev today, after she presented the eleventh package of sanctions against Russia to the Council of the European Union.
Despite fears in Ukraine and Russia that today’s date will be used to commit more attacks, several foreign leaders are expected in Moscow in addition to von der Leyen in Kiev.
Kyrgyzstan’s president Sadyr Zhaparov arrived in the Russian capital on Monday and met with Vladimir Putin.
On the same day, authorities announced that Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon will also attend the festivities, along with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Kazakhstani leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
In 2020, Victory Day’s 75th anniversary celebrations were postponed for the first time due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Source: DN
