Russian President Vladimir Putin will lead his country's 'Victory Day' celebration on May 9 to showcase Russia's tremendous arsenal and convey a chilling "doomsday" warning to the West as Moscow troops continue their attack on Ukraine.
The ceremonies marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany might be used to reinvigorate Russia's faltering invasion, with Putin's patriotic speech set in front of numerous troops, tanks, rockets, and missiles on Red Square during the parade, per Mirror.
For the first time since 2010, Russia's 11-80 "doomsday" command plane will fly above during the remarks. The flying command center was constructed as a covert mobile base for Russia's leaders in the occurrence of nuclear war, and its existence is being perceived as a sharp caution to western observers.
In that scenario, the Il-80 is designed to function as the roaming command center for the Russian president. It is packed with technology, but specific details are Russian state secrets.
Putin Portrays Invasion of Ukraine to Soviet Union's Battle Against Nazis
The 69-year-old Putin has compared the conflict in Ukraine to the struggle faced by the Soviet Union when Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, launched an invasion in 1941, as per a report from Reuters.
When the Kremlin chief announced the invasion of Ukraine, which he dubbed a "special military operation," on February 24, he said that the effort "to appease the aggressor on the eve of the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a mistake that cost our people dearly."
He added that Russia "will not make such a mistake a second time."
At the beginning of the invasion, Putin stated that one of the key objectives was to "denazify" the country. When Putin spoke to a flag-waving throng at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium in mid-March, banners promised a "world without fascism." His forces frequently wear the orange-black St George's ribbon, which has become a symbol of both the triumph in WWII and the conflict in Ukraine, according to The Guardian.
Putin also portrays the conflict in Ukraine as a fight to defend Russian speakers from Nazi persecution and to protect Russia from what he calls the US threat represented by NATO membership.
The charge of fascism is dismissed by Ukraine and the West, who argue Putin is waging an unjustified campaign of aggression.
Just Pure Propaganda
Several people regard Putin's "denazification" statements as pure propaganda. Other plausible justifications for Russia's invasion of Ukraine include fear of NATO expansion, post-imperial hatred for Ukrainian cultural identity, and a secluded ruler who spent the COVID-19 pandemic in a bunker contemplating his legacy.
During World War II, the Soviet Union lost 27 million people, more people than any other country. Putin has campaigned in recent years against what he regards as attempts in the West to rewrite the war's history to diminish the Soviet victory.
Apart from Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat in 1812, the downfall of Nazi Germany was Russia's most treasured military victory, although both catastrophic invasions from the West left Russia highly sensitive about its boundaries.
