The conflict between Russia and Ukraine shifts to the historical level on the anniversary of the victory in the Second World War. Vladimir Putin is preparing for the parade on Red Square by stating that it is necessary to fight against the "current ideological heirs" of Nazism, that is, the rulers of Kiev. Volodymyr Zelensky responds by deciding not to celebrate the victory over Nazism on May 9 as he has done so far with Russia, but on the 8th, as happens in the "free world".
ANSA Agency
Putin on victory anniversary: 'Fight against Nazi heirs' - Politics
Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrates victory over Nazism in a message to the leaders of former Soviet republics stressing the need to oppose the 'current ideological heirs' of Nazism (ANSA)
A discrepancy initially due to the difference in time zones, but became a symbol of the new division of the world. Russia is eagerly awaiting tomorrow's parade after repeated drone strikes on its territory, including the two that exploded over the Kremlin last week. An episode that the Moscow authorities explained as an attempt by the Ukrainian secret services to kill Putin.
Traditional parades have been cancelled in more than 20 cities, but making a similar decision for the one scheduled on Red Square would have been almost an admission of defeat. So under the walls of the Kremlin thousands of soldiers with their weapons will parade as planned, and the president will give his speech regularly. But in the afternoon the traditional march of the Immortal Regiment, that is, of the descendants of the fighters against the Third Reich who parade with photographs of their relatives, was canceled for security reasons. Last year, Putin took part in person, showing a photograph of his father. Only a handful of foreign heads of state and government will attend the parade: those of Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Some of the former Soviet republics to which Putin sent a message to appeal to the common struggle against Hitler as members of the USSR. "It is our moral duty to preserve the sacred traditions of friendship and mutual assistance handed down by our fathers and grandfathers, not to allow the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War to be distorted and not to allow the justifications of the Nazis, their accomplices and their current ideological heirs," Putin said in a clear reference to the Kiev government. Zelensky countered by drawing a parallel between the Russian leader and Hitler: Russia will be defeated "in the same way" that Nazism was in 1945, he said, and then announced that Ukraine would henceforth celebrate victory over the Nazis one day before Moscow, on May 8.
ANSA Agency
Drones over Ukraine, 'it is the most serious attack on Kiev' - Politics
Missiles on Odessa. 'Moscow lost 100,000 soldiers in Bakhmut' (ANSA)
The 9th is instead declared Europe Day, as in the European Union, in which Kiev aspires to be admitted. Indeed, of which he already feels part of cultural heritage, said Zelensky, posting a message on Telegram accompanied by a Ukrainian flag and an EU flag. Tomorrow, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will arrive in the Ukrainian capital to show "the EU's unwavering support" for the Ukrainian government. With the change of date for the holiday, Zelensky intends to send a precise signal: Ukraine, he explained, is already part of that European concert that, just as it destroyed Nazism (Moscow's role is omitted), so it will defeat what the Ukrainian president calls "ruscismo", a neologism invented in Kiev to indicate "Russian fascism". Moscow certainly could not take it well. Zelensky's decision shows that he is a "traitor." Indeed, the "new incarnation of Judas in the twenty-first century," or "a fascist collaborator 80 years later," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
ANSA Agency
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Four days after the explosion of two drones intercepted over the Kremlin, Moscow's security services claimed to have foiled a new sensational Ukrainian attack in the heart of Russia.
Farnesina, Italians must leave Ukraine immediately - "Increasingly heavy missile attacks continue to be recorded in Kiev and throughout the Ukrainian territory. Extreme caution is recommended. All travel to Ukraine, for any reason, is absolutely not recommended. Compatriots still present in Ukraine are strongly advised to use the means still available, including trains, to leave the country immediately, during times when a curfew is not in force". This is what can be read on the Viaggiare Sicuri website, managed by the Foreign Ministry's Crisis Unit, in an update published today also on the homepage of the Italian Embassy in Kiev.