Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday justified his faltering 10-week-old invasion of Ukraine as a battle comparable to the fight against Nazi Germany as he presided over his annual display of military might on Moscow’s Red Square.
"Today, you’re defending what our fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers fought for,” Putin said in a speech before the military parade, flanked by World War II veterans at the May 9 Victory Day celebration marking the German defeat in 1945.
This year’s display includes 11,000 troops and weaponry including tanks, air-defense systems and nuclear-missile launchers. A planned flyover by military jets and helicopters was canceled because of cloudy weather conditions, the state-run Tass news service reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.