President Vladimir Putin assured on Monday that Russia has carried out a “preemptive” attack in Ukraine in the face of the threat of the NATO and the West, and assured that it was “a necessary measure” and the “only possible” in this situation.
“We have seen how military infrastructures are deployed, how hundreds of foreign experts worked in Ukraine, how they were supplying NATO weapons,” he said during his speech in Red Square on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Victory Day over Nazi Germany. .
“The danger was growing every day. Russia made a preventive response, it was a necessary measure and the only possible one in this situation. It was a decision of a sovereign, strong and independent country », he pointed out during the traditional military parade.
He argued that Russia has promised to do “everything possible so that the horror of a global war is not repeated” and therefore, he said, “despite all the differences in international relations, Russia has always advocated a global and indivisible security system. , one that is vital for the entire world community.”
«Last December we proposed to close an agreement on security guarantees. Russia called on the West for a sincere dialogue, to seek reasonable solutions and compromises for the common good. All in vain. The NATO countries did not want to listen to us, which meant that in fact they had completely different plans and we saw them », he said.
Openly, he added, “they were preparing a punitive operation in Donbas, an invasion of our historical territories, including Crimea. In kyiv they announced the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons and the NATO bloc began an active military development of the territories in our vicinity».
“In this way, an intolerable threat was being systematically created for us directly on our borders,” he said, while considering that “everything pointed to a confrontation with neo-Nazis, supporters of (Ukrainian collaborationist leader Stepan) Bandera ( …), it would be unavoidable».
Putin pointed out that this Monday, 77 years after the end of World War II, “the Donbas militias together with the Russian Army fight on their own land (…)”.
«I now address our Armed Forces and the militiamen of Donbas: you fight for the homeland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War, so that there is no room in the world for executioners, repressors and Nazis» , he pointed.
Before asking for a minute of silence, Putin bowed his head to the memory of all those whose lives were taken by the Great Patriotic War (1931-1945), to the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents, husbands, wives , brothers, sisters, relatives, friends, he stated.
“We bow our heads to the memory of the Odessa martyrs, who were burned alive in the House of Trade Unions in May 2014. To the memory of the elderly, women and children of Donbas, the civilians who died from the ruthless bombings, the barbaric neo-Nazi attacks,” he stressed.
Putin noted that soldiers who fought during the “special military operation” in Ukraine, which he announced on February 24, were taking part in the parade.
