ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) – With no major new battlefield successes to boast about, Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his country’s biggest patriotic holiday without even uttering the word “Ukraine.”
The Russian leader oversaw a Victory Day parade Monday on Moscow’s Red Square, watching as troops marched in formation and military hardware rolled past in a celebration of the Soviet Union’s role in the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany.
Many Western analysts had expected Putin to use the holiday to trumpet some kind of victory in Ukraine or announce an escalation, but he did neither. Instead, he sought to justify the war again as a necessary response to what he portrayed as a hostile Ukraine.
“The danger was rising by the day,” Putin said. “Russia has given a preemptive response to aggression. It was forced, timely, and the only correct decision.”
With the conflict grinding through its 11th week, he steered clear of battlefield specifics, failing to mention the potentially pivotal battle for the vital southern port of Mariupol.