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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine were confronting an “aggressive force” backed by the entire NATO alliance.
He described Moscow’s war aims as “just” during Russia’s annual Victory Day parade on Red Square.
Putin has long used the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II as a central element of his political narrative, with the May 9 parade traditionally staged with extensive military displays and foreign guests.
This year’s celebrations, however, were significantly scaled back following a wave of Ukrainian long-range attacks in recent weeks that prompted heightened security measures in Moscow.
No military hardware was displayed for the first time in nearly two decades, while only a limited number of foreign leaders attended, most from Russia’s close allies.
Addressing the parade, which included Russian troops and soldiers from North Korea, Putin linked the Soviet wartime experience to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” he said.
“They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward,” Putin added.
“I firmly believe that our cause is just,” he said later in the speech.
Both Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a three-day ceasefire over the commemorations following a last-minute appeal by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump announced Friday that the truce would begin on May 9 and would coincide with an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.
“Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard-fought war,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would respect the ceasefire and instructed the military not to target the parade.
“Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be returned home,” Zelenskyy said Friday.
Both the Ukrainian air force and Russia’s Defense Ministry reported a reduction in drone attacks overnight.
Ahead of the parade, Russian authorities imposed strict security measures in Moscow, with AFP reporters describing largely empty streets and disruptions to mobile internet services.
Before the ceasefire agreement, Zelenskyy had warned Moscow’s allies against attending the event, while Russia threatened a “massive” strike on central Kyiv if the parade was disrupted.
Leaders from Belarus, Malaysia, and Laos attended the event, along with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The attendance contrasted sharply with previous years, when figures such as Chinese President Xi Jinping joined the celebrations.
Now in its fifth year, the war in Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands of people and become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
U.S.-mediated negotiations aimed at ending the war have stalled in recent months as Washington shifted greater attention toward the conflict involving Iran.
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