Russia is defending ‘motherland’: Putin

country’s biggest patriotic holiday on Monday to justify his war in Ukraine but did not declare even a limited victory or signal where the conflict is headed, as his forces pressed their offensive with few signs of progress. His much-anticipated speech offered no new insights into how he intends to salvage the grinding war, and he instead stuck to allegations that Ukraine posed a threat to Russia, though Moscow’s nuclear-armed forces are far superior in number and firepower. “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.” “You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War Two. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, castigators and Nazis,” he added. husband Ravi Rana will have to appear before a special court on May 18 when it hears an appeal against their bail in a sedition case, special judge RN Rokade ordered on Monday. Mumbai police has sought the cancellation on the ground that the couple have violated a bail condition. On April 23, Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband Ravi Rana, independent MLA from Badnera assembly in the district, were arrested by Khar Police under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 34 (common intention) of IPC for their insistence on chanting the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence “to remind the Shiv Sena leader of his Hindutva roots”.