The long-awaited speech by Vladimir Putin on the occasion of Victory Day, the anniversary that in Russia celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, it has arrived. But unlike expectations it glides smoothly without any twists. A speech where the caution and the usual nationalist rhetoric, where the unsaid words are more important than the spoken ones. On the stage set up in Red Square, the Russian president made no reference to nuclear power, no declaration of war, no general mobilization. Not even the Mig planes flew to form the letter Z in the Moscow sky blocked "by adverse weather conditions", as spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
This year, on the occasion of the 77th anniversary, the event takes on a different meaning given the ongoing conflict. Although many expected stronger statements or big announcements, the Russian president "disappointed" expectations by remaining calm, moderate without pronouncing too much "on the special operation" in Ukraine or on possible escalations. Indeed he himself warns against the risk of global war, which extends to other parts of the continent and the planet.
Not only that, for the first time he recognized Russia's losses (in terms of human lives). "The death of each of our soldiers and our officers is a pain that weighs on all of us" Putin said, adding that "the state will do everything to help the families, and will give special support to the children of the victims and our wounded comrades". Then the Russian leader called for a minute of silence for the victims of "Odessa martyrs burned alive in the House of Unions in May 2014, residents of Donbass and participants in the special military operation", as well as for the fallen of the Second War World.
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Putin: "NATO didn't want to listen to us"
Putin began his speech by drawing a parallel between the 1941-1945 veterans who sat behind him and the soldiers who are fighting in the Donbass region. “The Donbass militia and the Russian army are fighting for their land, which the heroes of the Great Patriotic War defended to the death. It is our duty to preserve the memory of those who crushed Nazism, who bequeathed us to be vigilant and do everything possible to ensure that the horror of a global war does not happen again".
Then switch to reasons that led to the invasion of Ukraine, although he never mentioned it directly. “Despite all the differences in international relations, Russia has always fought to create a fair and equal security system, a system of vital necessity for the entire world community. Last December we proposed concluding an agreement on security guarantees. Russia exhorted the West to an honest dialogue, to search for reasonable and compromise solutions, to consider mutual interests. All in vain. The NATO countries did not want to listen to us and this means that they had other plans. We were preparing for yet another aggression in the Donbass, for the invasion of our historical lands, including the Crimea. In Kiev, meanwhile, the acquisition of nuclear weapons was declared possible. Since there was an immediate threat on our borders, Russia preemptively stopped the aggression. It was the only correct and timely decision to make. The decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country,” she added.
In his speech, Putin underlines the moral degradation of the West
Instead, the attack on the USA is frontal. “The United States of America, especially after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, have cared only for their exclusivity, thus humiliating not only the whole world but also their own satellite countries which are forced to pretend not to notice anything and to swallow all this obediently. But we are a different country. Russia has another character. We will never renounce love for the homeland, faith and traditional values, customs of ancestors, respect for all peoples and cultures. While in the West, apparently, they have decided to abolish these millennial values. A moral degradation that has become the basis of cynical falsifications of the history of the Second World War, of the fomentation of Russophobia, of the exaltation of traitors, going as far as erasing the courage of those who achieved victory through suffering".
Putin concluded by underlining how "on other occasions Russia's enemies tried to use gangs of international terrorists against us, trying to sow ethnic and religious hostility to weaken us from within, without ever reaching any result".
Even if in the end there was no bombastic announcement, but only a summary of the Russian reasons and a different reading of history, the Russian president flew low, with an overly defensive speech. But experience has taught us to be wary of Putin's words because actions are opposed to his words.
Zelensky's reply to Putin's speech
“We are fighting for our children's freedom, and therefore we will win. We will never forget what our ancestors did during World War II, in which more than eight million Ukrainians died. Very soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine. And some will have none." Instead, these are the words of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the video shot on the occasion of Victory over Nazism as he walks in the center of Kiev, without however ever directly naming the Russian leader.
