Putin says Ukraine war ‘coming to end’ after Russia death toll revealed

Vladimir Putin has claimed the war in Ukraine is ‘coming to an end’ at Russia’s annual Victory Day Parade – which he scaled back for fear of a Ukrainian attack.

The Victory Day Parade, which commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, is Russia’s largest military holiday, but was considerably scaled back this year.

Security was tight in Moscow as Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.

Speaking at the parade, Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring that they ‘face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of NATO’.

His remarks came days after it was revealed that more than 350,000 Russian troops had been killed while fighting in the four-year war.

Despite the conflict being the deadliest in Europe since World War II, Putin said: ‘Victory has always been and will be ours.

The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valour, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge,’ he said.

‘I think the matter is coming to an end.’
This year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.

Officials said the sudden change of format was due to the ‘current operational situation’ and pointed to the threat of Ukrainian attacks.

For the first time, Saturday’s parade featured troops from North Korea, a tribute to Pyongyang that sent its soldiers to fight alongside Moscow forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Russia’s bigger and better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 600-mile front line.

Ukraine has hit back with increasingly efficient long-range attacks, striking Russian energy facilities, manufacturing plants and military depots.

It has developed drones capable of reaching targets more than 600 miles deep into Russia, far beyond its capabilities before 2022.

Russian authorities warned that if Ukraine attempted to disrupt Saturday’s festivities, Russia would carry out a ‘massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv’.

What is Victory Day in Russia?

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in 1941-45 in what it calls the Great Patriotic War, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche and remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule.

‘Our soldiers suffered colossal losses, made a colossal sacrifice in the name of freedom and dignity of the peoples of Europe, became the embodiment of courage and nobility, fortitude and humanity, and crowned themselves with the great glory of a grandiose victory.’
Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved a broad array of heavy weapons – from armoured vehicles to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles – every year since 2008.

Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, but this time many of them have also been pared down or even cancelled altogether for security reasons.

The authorities on Saturday ordered restrictions on all mobile internet access and text messaging services in the Russian capital, citing the need to ensure public safety.

The government has methodically tightened internet censorship and established increasingly stringent controls over online activities, causing rumblings and rare public expressions of discontent.

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