Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed on Monday May 9 that his army was fighting in Ukraine to defend “the homeland”in front of the “unacceptable threat” represented by its Western-backed neighbour. He then stressed that everything had to be done to prevent “the horror of a new global war is not repeated”in a short speech followed by the traditional May 9 military parade in Red Square to celebrate the Soviet victory over the Nazis in 1945.
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Reversing his decision to launch an offensive on February 24, the Russian autocrat repeated that the Ukrainian authorities were preparing an attack against pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, wanted to acquire the atomic bomb and were supported by NATO. . “An absolutely unacceptable threat was forming, directly at our borders”he said, calling the Russian invasion a “preventive response” and of “only right decision”.