Putin gave clues in Victory Day speech

Moscow is full of rumors and speculations on victory day for the Russia-Ukraine war. Rumors about Putin preparing a major announcement on Russia’s offensive in Ukraine were a major issue. Finally, none of these speculations became true.

Putin addressed Russian troops and the Russian nation in his Red Square. He justified his voice for attacking Ukraine. This is an argument that appears to blame everyone but Russia. He criticized America, Nato, and the government in Kyiv! All of this was quite usual. He even claimed that their actions put the security of Russia itself in danger. He made references to neo-Nazis in Ukraine. These all are some of the clear signs of the victory day announcement.

A lot of Russian officials give similar baseless claims. The claims that Ukraine has been overrun by fascists, ultra-nationalists, and Nazi sympathizers are common. President Putin admitted that Russia suffered military losses.

He gave no details. The last official reports released by Russia’s defence ministry claim that 1,351 Russian soldiers got killed. This was around six weeks ago. However, Mr Putin didn’t employ his familiar phrase – “Special Military Operation,” to describe Russia’s offensive. He also did not call it War.

But he tried to bring up parallels between current hostilities and World War Two. This was an attempt to mobilise patriotic sentiment. This mobilisation was over Hitler’s defeat to boost support amongst the Russian public for the invasion of Ukraine.

Thousands of Russian soldiers marched across Red Square after the speech.

Although there were fewer troops here than in last year’s Victory Day parade. Military hardware was on the show, too. A planned military fly-over was duly canceled officially due to poor weather. The Kremlin is expecting a swift victory in Ukraine.

This is possible within days of sending in its troops. Many believe that President Putin’s Plan B was to secure a victory by 9 May. However, this did not happen. Even though few clues are there in today’s speech, there’s no signaling of the end of hostilities. These will keep going on for now.

Credits: BBC