Warmongering Russian President Vladimir Putin has brazenly told his people the West was preparing to invade.
Speaking at the annual May 9 Victory Day parade, he said his forces had simply carried out a ‘preventative’ strike on Ukraine in retaliation to NATO’s plans to attack Russia itself.
At the same time as defending his own barbaric war, he ironically claimed the “horror” of the Second World War should never be repeated.
Due to relentless propaganda in state media, most Russians are unaware of the disastrous losses their armed forces are taking, or the litany of war crimes they are accused of.
Today’s enormous spectacle is a patriotic display of raw military power but this year carries extra significance, amid the Ukraine conflict.
However, Putin did not, as some observers speculated he might, use it to declare all-out war.