Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
– War defends ‘Russian Motherland’: Putin –
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his highly anticipated Victory Day speech at a giant military parade in Moscow. He says he had no choice but to send troops into Ukraine to defend the Russian “Motherland” from an “absolutely unacceptable threat”.
Speculation that he could use the 77th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II to expand the conflict comes to naught.
The Russian leader insists instead on the need to avoid “the horror of a global war”.
– ‘We will win,’ says Zelensky –
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says he will not allow the Soviet Union’s victory over the Nazis to be “appropriated” by Putin.
“We are proud of our ancestors who together with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition defeated Nazism. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory. We will not allow it to be appropriated,” he says.
He compares the Russian invasion to the Nazi occupation of parts of present-day Ukraine, vowing, “We won then. We will win now.”
– Russian generals ‘should be court martialled’ –
Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace slams what he calls the “absurdity” of Russian generals as they flank Putin at the Victory Day parade “resplendent in their manicured parade uniforms and weighed down by their many medals”.
He says “all professional soldiers should be appalled at the behaviour of the Russian Army”.
“Not only are they engaged in an illegal invasion and war crimes but their top brass have failed their own rank and file to the extent they should be court martialled.”
– Ukraine ‘decades’ away from EU membership: Macron –
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says the bloc will give its opinion on Ukraine’s membership bid next month but French President Emmanuel Macron appears to rule out the prospect of the country joining the club in the near future.
Macron, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, says joining the bloc would take “decades” and suggests instead that Ukraine and other EU hopefuls like Moldova and Georgia be integrated into a new, yet-to-be-created “European political community”.
– Russia using ‘ageing’ munitions –
As the conflict in Ukraine drags on, Russia’s stockpiles of precision-guided munitions are likely being depleted, leaving it reliant on “ageing” munitions that are less accurate, Britain’s military intelligence says.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revealed shortcomings in its ability to conduct precision strikes at scale,” the defence ministry says in a note.
– EU leader ducks for cover –
European Council President Charles Michel is forced to break off a meeting and take cover from missile fire during a surprise visit to the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa to mark Victory Day.
The strike took place as he held talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, an EU official said.
– Don’t humiliate Russia, Macron warns –
Macron says peace efforts will not be served by Russia’s “humiliation”.
“Tomorrow we’ll have a peace to build, let’s never forget that,” he tells reporters in Strasbourg.
“The terms of the discussion and negotiation will be set by Ukraine and Russia, but that will not be done through… the exclusion of one another, nor even in their humiliation.”
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