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HomeWorldUkraine invasion correct decision as West was prepared to invade us, says...

Ukraine invasion correct decision as West was prepared to invade us, says Vladimir Putin

The Russian President did not escalate the conflict to a war – as was feared -- during his address at the Victory Day parade Monday.

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New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia’s intervention in Ukraine was necessary because the West was “preparing to invade our land, including Crimea”.

“NATO is actively pursuing our territory. That is absolutely unacceptable to us. We are talking about neo-Nazis in Ukraine that the US and its partners are working with,” Putin said at the Victory Day parade on Monday.

Putin said Ukraine was receiving the most “modern weaponry from NATO”. He added the decision for this military operation was “forced and the only correct decision”.

Victory Day is celebrated in Russia on 9 May to commemorate the triumph of the allied forces over Nazi Germany in 1945. The Russian state also displays its military might at this annual parade.

Addressing the parade in Moscow’s Red Square Monday, Putin said that troops and volunteers fighting in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region were fighting for their Motherland.

He told the soldiers: “You are fighting for your Motherland, its future”. “The death of every soldier and officer is painful for us,” he said. “The state will do everything to take care of these families.”

Putin also said the West was not prepared to listen to Russia’s proposals for a dialogue. “NATO countries did not want to hear us,” Putin said, adding this meant they had “very different plans and we could see that”.

Vladimir Putin also compared the Ukraine conflict to other Russian wars in the past. He said the defence of the homeland — when her fate was being decided — “has always been sacred”.

He added the troops were fighting for “our people in the Donbass, for the security of our homeland – Russia”.

Putin concluded his speech saying Russia was fighting a “band of international terrorists” in Ukraine. “For Russia, for Victory, Ura!” he shouted before a multi-gun salute.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent out a statement on Victory Day and vowed the country would win its war against Russia.

“The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win,” he said in a statement.

He said the Ukrainians would not give anyone “a single piece of their land or a single piece of their history”.

Zelenskyy said the country was proud of its ancestors, who with other nations, had defeated the anti-Hitler coalition and Nazism. He would not allow anyone to appropriate this victory, the Ukraine President said.


Also read: ‘Cruelty of this war,’ says UN as children death toll still unknown in Luhansk shelter attack


 

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