Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that Moscow's military action in Ukraine is "a timely and necessary response'' to the Western policies. President Putin also likened his country's action in Ukraine to the Soviet fighting in World War II, according to international media reports.
Putin also vowed that "as in 1945, the victory will be ours" as he congratulated former Soviet nations on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II.
"Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours," said Putin, who ordered his troops into Ukraine in February.
"Today, it is our common duty to prevent the rebirth of Nazism which caused so much suffering to the peoples of different countries," said Putin adding that, ''new generations may be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers".
Putin also made multiple references not just to soldiers but also to civilians on the "home front... who smashed Nazism at the cost of countless sacrifices". President Vladimir Putin made these remarks as he presided over a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles on Moscow`s Red Square, and made a speech to celebrate Russia's 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.
The Russian forces pushed forward on Monday in their assault on Ukraine, seeking to capture the crucial southern port city of Mariupol as Moscow celebrated its Victory Day holiday.
Determined to show success in a war now in its 11th week, Russian troops were pummeling a seaside steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were making what appeared to be their last stand to save Mariupol from falling.
The mill is the only part of the city not overtaken by the invaders. Its defeat would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and allow Russia to establish a land