Russia’s strategic nuclear forces remain combat-ready despite current tensions in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on 9 May, in a speech timed to commemorate Russia's victory over Hitler in World War II.
“Russia will do everything to avoid a global confrontation. However, we won’t accept any threats. Our strategic forces remain on alert,” Putin remarked at the ceremony at Red Square, which included a military parade that saw the participation of over 9,000 military personnel, along with armoured vehicles, missile launchers, and fighter jets, according to Russian media..
Putin recently commissioned tactical nuclear drills involving troops stationed near Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said these exercises were part of efforts to enhance Russia’s nuclear deterrence in response to the “escalation” initiated by its Western “adversaries.”
On Thursday, Putin accused the West of wishing to "forget the lessons" of World War II, and stressed that Moscow, which he presented as a counterbalance to Anglo-Saxon influence, rejected any "claim to exclusivity" by any government or alliance.
Acknowledging that Russia is going through a “challenging period,” he added that “the fate and future of the motherland depends on each one of us,” and hailed those who fight for Moscow on the front as “heroes.”
The 71-year-old Russian leader presents the assault on Kyiv as an existential conflict and routinely assures his citizens of “victory” in a battle against what is portrayed as a “neo-Nazi” Ukrainian government.
Putin taps into longstanding memories of World War II, which claimed 27 million Soviet lives, to portray himself as the successor to the USSR’s power and justify his leadership.
Inside the country, the parade is central to the Kremlin’s patriotic education, albeit drawing accusations of militarism from the opposition. Despite this, the Red Square parade in Moscow could not escape the security and diplomatic implications stemming from the assault on Kyiv.
Under increasing international isolation, Putin was surrounded only by a handful of allied heads of state on Thursday.
They included leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan, according to the Kremlin, as well as the presidents of Laos, Cuba, and Guinea-Bissau.
Parades in various regions bordering Ukraine, regularly hit by strikes, were cancelled for “security” reasons.
