Putin defends war, without signalling escalation

Against a backdrop of armoured vehicles and soldiers in regalia, President Vladimir Putin hailed Russia’s army for “fighting for the motherland,” delivering a defiant speech at the start of the annual Victory Day commemorations Monday that falsely depicted his invasion of Ukraine as an extension of the struggle against Nazism in Europe.

Slandering Ukrainian fighters as “Nazis,” as he has done throughout the war, Putin did not announce any change in the military campaign but sought to use the roaring military parade in Moscow’s Red Square to channel Russian pride in defeating Nazi Germany into support for his invasion of Ukraine.

Significantly, he did not declare “victory” in Ukraine, suggesting no end to a war after more than two months in which his army has repeatedly stumbled and is now locked in an increasingly bloody stalemate. But nor did he renew his implicit threats of nuclear war. And in a rare acknowledgement of the toll of the fighting, Putin said the death of every soldier was a “grief for all of us” and promised that his government would do “everything to care for” the families of the dead.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine rebutted Putin’s reading of history, saying in a speech released Monday that the Russian leader’s war was “repeating the horrific crimes of Hitler’s regime today.”

Russian forces have escalated their attacks across eastern and southern Ukraine, unleashing a barrage of missiles and artillery across the Luhansk region Monday, although they have been unable to seize much new territory. Ukrainian forces, bolstered by more weapons from the United States and its allies, have waged a fierce counteroffensive in the east that has forced Russian forces to redeploy to the area around the city of Kharkiv, preventing them from reinforcing stalled operations elsewhere, analysts said.

In other developments:

— Ukraine marked the May 9 holiday sombrely, skipping the usual wreath-laying ceremonies, concerts and picnics, many of which were cancelled under martial law.

— Jill Biden, the first lady, said she called President Joe Biden and urged him to continue supporting Ukraine after she made an unannounced visit to western Ukraine on Sunday.

— Leaders of the Group of 7 wealthy nations pledged during a virtual meeting with Zelensky on Sunday to ban or phase out Russian oil.

— In the territories that Russian forces have seized in southern Ukraine, they are replacing road signs, routing the internet through Russian servers and stepping up security, as Moscow intensifies efforts to bring the occupied areas under its control.

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