President Vladimir Putin described Russia’s conflict in Ukraine as necessary to protect the “Motherland” at a big parade in Moscow honouring the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Meanwhile, intense hostilities raged in eastern Ukraine, and intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled across Moscow’s famed Red Square as Putin made his Victory Day address.
As he visited a cemetery in Warsaw, protesters flung blood-red paint on the Russian ambassador, screamed “fascists!” and waved a Ukrainian flag, accusing Putin of exploiting the World War II anniversary.