No military parade in Mariupol.
Russia is not planning celebrations in the Ukrainian city on May 9, marking the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Ukrainian intelligence had assured Wednesday that Moscow was preparing a military parade in this strategic city where the last Ukrainian fighters are entrenched, in a vast industrial zone.
“This year, of course, it's impossible for obvious reasons.
But the time will come when a great celebration will take place there,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“There will definitely be Russians, many Russians on May 9 (in Mariupol).
But as far as an official delegation (being able to travel to this city), I am not aware,” he added.
Mariupol, ready to fall into the hands of Russian forces
Mariupol, a major port city in southeastern Ukraine, is almost completely under the control of Russian forces, who now face the last Ukrainian defenders entrenched in a vast steelworks, Azovstal.
After several weeks of a deadly siege, the city is largely devastated, with many buildings damaged or destroyed.
VIDEO.
“We lacked food”: in Mariupol, a hundred civilians evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks
May 9 is a very important date for Russia, which organizes military parades every year, including a large parade in Red Square in Moscow, to celebrate victory in the "Great Patriotic War" against Nazi Germany.
"It's a big popular and national holiday with always a lot of people present, it looks a bit like our July 14", had described to the Parisian, Carole Grimaud Potter, professor of geopolitics of Russia at the University of Montpellier.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: what is Vladimir Putin preparing for May 9, “Victory Day” in Russia?
The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed to be fighting "neo-Nazis" in Ukraine - including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is however Jewish -, multiplying the historical parallels between this military intervention and the Second World War.
A report by the Royal United Services Institute finds it "likely" that Russia will use May 9 to move from a "special military operation" to a real official "war".
British Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, also estimated that Vladimir Putin "was probably going to declare war against the Nazis around the world" and have to "massively mobilize the Russian people".
Such a general mobilization would then go through the proclamation of martial law.