![]() Asked whether Putin would formally declare war on Ukraine on May 9, a Kremlin spokesman called the idea "nonsense." Parade preparations are underway in Moscow Putin has previously warned of " lightning fast" retaliation if the West intervenes in the Ukraine conflict directly - the latest in a pattern of amplified rhetoric that has fed theories that Putin is seeking to build public consensus for a broader war. ![]() Underscoring this message, Russia on Wednesday carried out drills simulating a tactical nuclear strike in its western exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders the European Union. Russia's military has targeted those shipments as the Kremlin has escalated warnings and criticism, arguing that the military aid risks military confrontation between Russia and NATO powers. and European allies boost the flow of weapons and other support for Ukraine. Russia's recent focus on those Ukrainian regions in the eastern Donbas area has slowed down as the U.S. ![]() The Kremlin has warned of the potential for wider conflict Russia will hold an annual military parade at Red Square on May 9. Western intelligence services say the Kremlin may now seek the territories' annexation as a possible prize.ĪFP via Getty Images People walk through a tunnel of stars set up as decoration for Russia's Victory Day in central Moscow on Thursday. At the time, Putin justified the move as a humanitarian mission in defense of Russian-speakers in the area. Putin recognized the independence of Ukraine's separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the hours before Russia's decision to send troops into Ukraine in February. Kiriyenko's presence in Mariupol came amid Russian news reports that the Kremlin adviser - who normally oversees domestic politics - has been tasked with politically integrating Ukrainian lands as they fall to Russian forces. "She's become the grandmother to all of the Donbas and a grandmother to all of Russia." She is "a living symbol of the continuity of generations and of the ongoing fight against Nazism and fascism," Kiriyenko announced, echoing Putin's claims that Russian troops are in Ukraine to "denazify" the country. In the video, she refuses food that the troops offer her after she realizes they are Ukrainian. The woman, dubbed Babushka Anya, was apparently filmed by Ukrainian soldiers as she greeted them with a Soviet banner, mistakenly believing they were Russians. In front of cameras, Kiriyenko, Putin's deputy chief of staff, unveiled a statue depicting an elderly Ukrainian woman whom Russian state media have turned into a symbol of Ukrainian support for Russian troops. A pocket of Ukrainian resistance remains inside the local steel plant, but Putin has formally announced Russian control of Mariupol, unleashing a flood of Russian state media into the city. With few outright victories to point to, some Russians fear Putin may instead seize the occasion to announce national mobilization and formally declare war, against not only Ukraine but perhaps also other countries in the West.Ĭlues to the Kremlin's search for the optics of victory may lie in a visit last week by a senior official, Sergei Kiriyenko, to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The Kremlin insists that what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine is going "according to plan." Two months in, Western security officials say Moscow has struggled to reach its objectives. One big question is whether - or how - Putin might try to galvanize Russians and fuse past Soviet glory and sacrifice with a new call to battle against what he claims is a "neo-Nazi" regime in Ukraine. This year's Victory Day comes amid widespread speculation, in both Russia and the West, that Putin is eager to declare at least a symbolic win in Ukraine. Under Russian President Vladimir Putin, the May 9 event has grown in scale and political prominence, with a Soviet-style military parade on Moscow's Red Square featuring a presidential address. MOSCOW - Russians will celebrate Victory Day on Monday, an annual event to mark the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that has taken on added intrigue and import this year because of Russia's fight in Ukraine.
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