Today, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, referred to the heroism of the Soviets during World War II to urge his army to win in Ukraine. However, the Russian President also acknowledged the number of Russian casualties and thus he committed himself to helping the families of missing soldiers.

Addressing battalions of the Army in Red Square on the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, Putin condemned what he called external threats that seek to weaken and divide Russia, reiterating well-known arguments he had used to justify his invasion, such as that NATO created threats right next to the country’s borders.

“A completely unacceptable threat was directly posed against our borders,” he said, once again accusing the neighboring country of neo-Nazism and calling the Russian attack “the only right decision”.

According to APA MPA, Putin stressed that Russia’s duty was to prevent a new world war, one in which many fear that the conflict in Ukraine could end. He also spoke directly to troops fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which Russia has pledged to “liberate” from Kyiv.

There was a minute’s silence in his speech. “The death of each of our soldiers and officers is a common pain and an irreparable loss for our friends and relatives,” Putin said, pledging that the state would take care of the children and their families.

However, Putin’s 11-minute speech on the 75th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was notable, especially for what the Russian President did not say. He did not name Ukraine, comment on the progress of the war, or say how long the conflict could continue, nor did he mention the bloody battle for Mariupol, where Ukrainian defenders have been fortified in the ruins of the Azovstal steel plant defying Russian aggression.

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On behalf of Ukraine, in his recorded message about the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, sent the message that Ukraine will win the war with Russia and will not cede any territory.

“On Victory Day over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory. The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win,” Zelensky said in a message to the Ukrainian people.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, is also celebrating the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II. “Ukrainians are a free people who have fought many times to defend their country in history and have taken their own path,” Zelensky said.

“Today, we are waging war on this road and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land (…) nor a single piece of our history,” he added.

“We are proud of our ancestors, who together with other peoples in the Hitler coalition defeated Nazism. We will not allow anyone to annex this victory, to appropriate it,” Zelensky said in a video message, while he seemed to be walking on the main avenue of Kyiv.

“We won then, we will win now,” he said. “There are no bonds that can imprison our free spirit. There is no occupying power that can take root in our free country. There is no invader who can dominate our free people. Sooner or later we will win,” the Ukrainian President concluded.

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