Putin hails 'all-conquering' Russian patriotism at Victory Day parade
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Russia shows its military might in Victory Day march in Moscow |
By Michael Mainville, with Marion Thibaut in Kiev
13 hours ago
As Ukraine's
crisis rumbled on with pro-Moscow rebels pushing ahead with independence
votes, President Vladimir Putin praised Russian patriotism and loyalty
to the state.
"This is a holiday when all-conquering patriotic
force triumphs, when we all feel especially strongly what it means to be
true to the Motherland and how important it is to be able to stand up
for its interests," Putin told massed troops to shouts of "Hurrah!
Hurrah!"Russia's annual parade celebrating victory over the Nazis held special resonance this year amid the crisis in Ukraine, which has seen Russia annex Crimea and fighting in pro-Moscow areas in the east where separatists are threatening to break away.
Similar Victory Day celebrations were planned for later Friday in Sevastopol, with Russian media reporting that Putin could make a triumphant appearance at the Crimean port.
As dozens of helicopters and planes soared in the bright blue sky over Moscow, thousands of troops marched alongside tanks, mobile missile systems and armoured vehicles to the sound of a brass band.
"I am concerned about Vladimir Putin's statement. It caused a bad feeling. They say one thing and do another. After this statement, I asked law enforcement officers to strengthen security measures on May 9," Yatsenyuk told Ukrainian television.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin
strongman stunned the world with an abrupt U-turn on Ukraine, calling on
pro-Russian separatists in the east to delay independence referendums
planned for this weekend and welcoming a May 25 presidential election.
But
the rebels holed up in more than a dozen towns and cities in eastern
Ukraine defied his plea and vowed to press ahead with referendums this
Sunday that are bound to stoke tensions.
If Putin does head to
Sevastopol, it will be his first visit to Crimea since the Black Sea
peninsula was annexed by Moscow in March.German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday warned Putin against making the visit, saying it would be a "pity" if he went to the region.
The crisis in Ukraine, which kicked off after the ouster of the country's pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych in February, has sunk Russia's relations with the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.
The United States and European Union have imposed a series of sanctions on Putin and his inner circle and EU ministers are to meet on Monday to consider further measures.
Fears of war on Europe's doorstep have been fired by fighting pitting Ukrainian troops against pro-Moscow gunmen in the east of the country, mainly around the town of Slavyansk.
Ukraine has lost 14 troops and three helicopter gunships with 66 servicemen injured in assaults on the rebels. The fighting has also claimed the lives of more than 30 insurgents.
Clashes
that resulted in a horrific inferno in the southern port city of Odessa
last week claimed another 42 lives, most of them pro-Russian activists,
pushing the death toll over the past week to nearly 90.
- 'Fascist' collaborators -
The violence has
prompted many Western politicians to warn that the country of 46 million
people is slipping towards a civil war that would imperil peace in
Europe.
The Soviet Union's
victory over Nazi Germany has long been a source of great pride
throughout the ex-USSR, which lost some 30 million citizens during World
War II.
But this year's celebrations have exposed the deep divisions between Russia and Ukraine.
Ahead
of the events, Kiev has cast Russia as an aggressor bent on sowing
chaos in Ukraine, while the Kremlin has accused its neighbour's
pro-Western authorities of siding with "fascists" and ultra-right
groups.
Fuelling tensions is
the hugely controversial legacy of the nationalist movement in western
Ukraine, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and whose Ukrainian
Insurgent Army collaborated with Nazi Germany.
Animosity
between the two Slavic nations has reached such levels that Ukraine
decided to drop the black-and-orange Saint George ribbon, which Russians
cherish as a symbol of Victory Day, instead adopting the red poppy as
its symbol of remembrance
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