Celebrating the 79th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready for a new global conflict – now nuclear, potentially apocalyptic, against its former Western allies.
Calling Western elites who support Ukraine against the Russian invasion starting in 2022 “arrogant”, Putin said that “we know where the exorbitance of these ambitions leads.” “Russia will do everything to avoid a global conflict, but at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always in a state of combat readiness.”
He was referring to the approximately 1,600 nuclear warheads that are, like the American ones, ready to be fired at any moment, as defined in the moribund New Start, the last agreement to control weapons that could destroy the world, which Russia abandoned in 2023.
The speech took place in Red Square, where the Russian presided over the Victory Day parade. The Soviet Union, a state dissolved in 1991 of which Russia was the main of its 15 components, was central to the defeat of the Nazis in 1945.
It was the country that suffered the most casualties, with 27 million of the perhaps 70 million killed in the war. The German surrender was at 11:01 pm on May 8, 1945, when it was already 0:01 am on the 9th in Moscow — hence the Russian celebration was on that day.
The speech resumes Putin’s bellicosity after a moderate speech during his fifth inauguration as president, on Tuesday (7). There, he said that he is ready to dialogue with the West, as long as it is on equal terms, with emphasis.
The Ukrainian War threatens to bring face to face forces that were united when the Soviets were betrayed by the Nazis and attacked in 1941. The difference is that there are more than 12 thousand nuclear warheads in the world, 90% in Russian and American hands and the rest , divided between allies of the two powers, in addition to neutrals India and Pakistan.
On Monday (6), Putin had ordered exercises with tactical nuclear weapons, which theoretically serve limited military purposes, in response to France’s suggestion to send troops to assist Kiev. “There’s nothing unusual about this,” the Russian said on Thursday. So far, the West has spent more than R$1.2 trillion on military aid, but has avoided direct involvement.
The Kremlin has also directly threatened to attack UK military targets if missiles provided to Ukraine are used against Russian territory. As a reminder of this risk, this same Thursday Kiev attacked the Russian region of Krasnodar with drones, but of its own making.
The Russian president made the usual historical comparisons, harshly criticized in the West. “We celebrate this Victory Day in the context of the special military operation,” he said, returning to the Russian euphemism for war, “and we honor those killed by neo-Nazis” — the standard accusation about Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
The Russian considers the war an existential clash between Russia and the West, with Ukraine a proxy battlefield. Since 2007, Putin has denounced NATO expansion [aliança militar liderada pelos EUA] over the former Soviet sphere as a betrayal.
In 2014, it annexed Crimea and fomented civil war in eastern Ukraine to prevent a new pro-Western government in Kiev from joining NATO or the European Union. The impasse resulted in the acute crisis of the 2022 invasion, seen in the West as an imperial adventure.
“Today we see how they [os ocidentais] attempt to distort the truth about the Great Patriotic War[Russiannamefortheconflictthatendedin1945RevanchismabuseofhistoryandanattempttojustifythecurrentfollowersofNazismarepartofageneralpolicybyWesternelitestoprovokenewregionalconflicts”hestated[nomerussoparaoconflitoencerradoem1945Revanchismoabusodahistóriaeumatentativadejustificarosatuaisseguidoresdonazismosãopartedeumapolíticageraldaselitesocidentaisparaprovocarnovosconflitosregionais”afirmou
On the field, Putin had no new trophies to present, despite the favorable moment of the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, after the initial failure to take Kiev at the beginning of the war and the subsequent setbacks.
This Thursday (9/5), Russian forces once again bombarded the Ukrainian energy grid, disabling the distribution centers of two hydroelectric plants in the country, which is under constant blackouts.
The weather in Moscow, which alternated between sun and a rare May snow, was gloomy like the leader’s speech, with snow and temperatures approaching zero degrees. This year’s parade was larger than last year’s, with 9,000 soldiers and the presence of fighter planes in formation.
An Iars intercontinental missile launcher, a traditional presence at the event, passed through Red Square, announced on state TV as having “the guaranteed ability to hit a target anywhere on the globe”, a reminder of the materiality of the risks of a Third World War .
Still, the parade did not overshadow previous editions, such as 2020. In a reflection of the use of Russian forces in Ukraine, only one historic WWII tank, the iconic T-34, paraded. Predictably, only a few leaders from countries like Belarus and Central Asia, as well as Cuba, were present.
The nuclear card was first placed on the table by Putin at the time of the invasion of Ukraine, which occurred shortly after he carried out a mega exercise with his strategic forces. He said that anyone who interfered ran the risk of seeing a response unique in history.
This stopped the West from entering the conflict directly, as American President Joe Biden admitted several times, and delayed the shipment of more sophisticated weapons to Kiev. It occurred gradually and inconsistently, and until now the Ukrainians are waiting for American F-16 fighters.
Thus, Russian nuclear rhetoric has a deterrent objective, but there are many analysts who fear that this will get out of control. Another frequent fear is that Putin will use tactical weapons in the conflict, even though he himself has said that this would be useless. (IGOR GIELOW/Folhapress)
