PUTIN WARNING:
Speech warns of Russia’s foes
Force...Tanks rolling across Red Square in Moscow next to the Kremlin
VLADIMIR Putin yesterday said Russia will “firmly” defend its national interests in the face of “Russophobia” – as he met soldiers at the annualVictory Day parade.
The Russian President’s speech launched the event on Moscow’s Red Square, which marked the 76th anniversary of the SecondWorldWar.
He said: “The Soviet people kept their sacred oath, defended the homeland and freed the countries of Europe from the black plague.
“Russia consistently defends international law. At the same time, we will firmly defend our national interests to ensure the safety of our people.”
Putin also warned of a return to ideologies of the 1930s, when “slogans of racial and national superiority, anti-Semitism and Russophobia, became ever more cynical”.
He added: “Unfortunately there are once again attempts to deploy many things from the ideology of the Nazis, those who were obsessed with a delusional theory on their exclusiveness. And not only [by] radicals and international terrorist groups.”
The state-run RIA Novosti agency reported that more than 12,000 mili
tary personnel would take part in the parade in the Russian capital, as well as 190 pieces of military equipment, plus 76 fighter jets and helicopters.
The parade, which became an annual event after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, was also celebrated in many other Russia cities.
Putin’s show of strength comes as he tries to contain pro-democracy protests, ahead of September polls.
Moscow’s relations with the West remain strained as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the fate of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
The United States and Russia have expelled each other’s diplomats in recent months. And Moscow and EU member states have been involved in similar tit-for-tat diplomatic disputes.