Vladimir Putin appeared to take aim at Donald Trump during a speech in Moscow by insisting it was Russia that played the key role in defeating Nazi Germany. The Russian president used his annual Victory Day address to say it was the Soviet Union that “determined the outcome” of World War Two, days after Mr Trump suggested the US had won both world wars alone.
“We won both wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance,” Trump said last week in a post on his Truth Social platform. But Putin, standing alongside China’s President Xi Jinping in the Red Square, told the crowd that the USSR “took upon itself the strongest attacks of our enemies” and that Soviet citizens “defended the front lines”.
His comments were widely seen as a response to Trump’s post, which angered many in Russia, where the huge sacrifice made by the Soviet Union during the war remains a deeply sensitive issue.
At least 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians died during the conflict.
Putin declared that Russia would never allow “the true victors over Nazism to be slandered” and vowed to continue fighting what he described as the “followers of Nazism” – language often used by the Kremlin to justify its invasion of Ukraine.
Although Putin did acknowledge the contribution of the US and European countries, he stressed that Russia’s sacrifice would not be forgotten or downplayed.
This year’s Victory Day parade marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the World War Two and was attended by more than 20 world leaders allied with Moscow.
Alongside Xi, the crowd included Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko and Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Xi’s presence was seen as a powerful signal of growing ties between Moscow and Beijing, despite Western attempts to isolate both nations.
Thousands of troops marched through the Red Square, followed by tanks, intercontinental ballistic missiles and several drones known to have been used in Ukraine.
Fighter jets then flew overhead in formation, trailing the colours of the Russian flag.
The parade took place under heavy security, with reports of drone attacks in Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, in the days leading up to the event.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that leaders attending the Moscow event could not be guaranteed safety, calling the celebration a “parade of cynicism”.
Despite the warning, the parade went ahead without incident, ending with Putin and other leaders laying red flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.