Brussels 09.05.2026 This year Russian President Vladimir Putin has used the commemoration event to denounce NATO. He didn’t mention Ukraine once in his speech, referring to it as an “agressive force”, supported by the North Atlantic Alliance.
Speaking in front of hundreds of military personnel and flanked by invited world leaders, the President said that Russian Federation was fighting a “just” war refering to Ukraine without articulating the name as to an “aggressive force” that is being “armed and supported by the whole bloc of Nato”.
“We will always remember the heroism of the Soviet people – that it was they who made the decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism, saved their country, saved the world, put an end to total, merciless evil, and restored sovereignty to those states that had capitulated to Nazi Germany and become meek accomplices to its crimes”.
“Our soldiers suffered colossal losses, made colossal sacrifices in the name of freedom and dignity for the peoples of Europe, became the embodiment of courage and nobility, fortitude and humanity, and crowned themselves with the great glory of a monumental Victory.”
“Forces were gathered across Europe to achieve these criminal goals. It would seem that the Nazi strategists meticulously took everything into account. Except for one thing: the so-called Russian character and the fortitude of the Soviet people.”
“The great feat of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers carrying out special military operations today. They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And yet, our heroes continue to move forward.”
“The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valor, our unity and ability to endure anything. We will overcome any challenge!
“We have a common goal. Each of us makes a personal contribution to Victory. It is forged both on the battlefield and in the rear”.
I firmly believe that our cause is just! We are together! Victory has always been and always will be ours!”
Security at Red Square was tight as President Vladimir Putin was set to speak on the occasion, viewed as Russia’s most significant secular holiday.
Victory Day is also observed in other former Soviet states such as Belarus and Kazakhstan. The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in 1941-45 in what it calls the Great Patriotic War against Nazism, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche and remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under communist rule.
Putin, in power for more than a quarter-century, has regularly used Victory Day to showcase the country’s military might, and accumulating support for his war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year. However this year, for the first time in nearly 20 years, the parade will take place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.
Officials said the sudden change of format was due to the “current operational situation” and pointed to the threat of Ukrainian drone attacks. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the authorities have taken “additional security measures”.
