🔴 Live: Putin says ‘real war’ unleashed on Russia in Victory Day speech

Issued on: 09/05/2023 – 07:30

9:35am: Putin tells Moscow parade world is at ‘turning point’

President Vladimir Putin told Russians that the world was at a key turning point and they were engaged in a patriotic struggle for the future of their country as he invoked the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.

“Today, civilization is again at a decisive turning point. (…) We have repulsed international terrorism, we will protect the inhabitants of Donbas, we will ensure our security,” Putin said.

In a 10-minute speech on Red Square, the Russian leader repeated familiar messages he has delivered many times in the nearly 15 months of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He said “Western globalist elites” were sowing hatred of Russia, while the Ukrainian people had become “hostages to a state coup” and to the ambitions of the West.

9:25am: ‘A real war’ is being waged against Russia, Putin says

Russia’s Vladimir Putin has accused Western leaders of “sowing hatred and Russophobia” in his traditional Victory Day address, marking victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

“A real war is being waged against our motherland”, Putin told Russian troops gathered on Red Square in the heart of Moscow, more than a year after he launched Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

9:10am: Russia holds pared-down Victory Day parades amid ‘security concerns’

Moscow and other Russian cities are hosting military parades and other festivities to mark Victory Day, Russia’s biggest secular holiday that this year has been significantly overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. 

At least 21 Russian towns and cities have cancelled the traditional parades – the staple of celebrations across Russia – for the first time in years. The Immortal Regiment processions, in which crowds take to the streets holding portraits of relatives who died or served in World War II – another pillar of the holiday – have also been called off in multiple places. 

Regional officials blamed unspecified “security concerns.” Some speculated, however, that the reason behind cancelling Immortal Regiment marches was the fact that Russians might bring portraits of relatives who died in Ukraine to those processions, illustrating the scale of Russia’s losses in the drawn-out conflict. 

7:55am: EU’s Von der Leyen arrives in Kyiv for ‘Europe day’ celebration

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv to mark the Europe Day celebration of peace and unity, designed as a symbolic retort to Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade.

The president of the European Commission travelled on an overnight train from Poland to see President Volodymyr Zelensky and work on Ukraine’s quest for eventual EU membership.

On Monday, Zelensky said he had submitted a bill to parliament to formally commemorate World War II in Ukraine on May 8 – instead of May 9, the traditional anniversary date in Russia and other ex-Soviet countries.

The Ukrainian leader said the country would mark a separate Europe Day on May 9, promoting peace and unity on the continent.

7:10am: Head of Wagner Group says still no sign of promised ammunition

Russia’s mercenary Wagner forces have not yet received the ammunition promised by Moscow, the head of the group has said, rowing back from comments made just hours earlier.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose forces have spent months trying to capture the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, added that he did not want to “spoil” Russia’s big Victory Day parade, and would reveal more details afterwards.

“The people who were supposed to fulfil the (shipment) orders have so far, over the past day, not fulfilled them,” Prigozhin said in a video post on the messaging app Telegram.

Late on Monday, he had said preliminary data showed his troops were beginning to get the ammunition, while cautioning they had not “seen it in practice”.

6:15am: Russia launches new attack on Ukraine’s capital

Russia has launched about 15 cruise missiles at Kyiv, the second attack in as many days, with air defence systems shooting all of them down, officials said, after air raid alerts blared over most of the country.

“As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed,” Serhiy Popko, head of the capital’s military administration, said in comments posted on the Telegram messaging app.

The attacks come a day after Russia launched its biggest drone swarm yet in a renewed air campaign unleashed 10 days ago after a lull since early March.

They coincide with Russia’s Victory Day, one its most commemorated public holidays, marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

• Key developments from Monday, May 8:

Russian forces launched a large-scale wave of strikes across Ukraine ahead of the annual Victory Day celebrations, killing four people and injuring five.

The strikes targeted the capital Kyiv, where officials said 36 Iranian-made kamikaze drones were shot down, as well as the Black Sea city of Odesa and other cities.

In a new break with Moscow, Ukraine marked the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s World War II defeat on Monday, rather than Tuesday, in line with its Western allies.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)