Moscow –
Russian President Vladimir Putin will give warnings in the tone of ‘doomsday’ to Western countries. Putin will deliver the stern warning while leading the celebration of the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9.
Reported from ReutersSaturday (05/07/2022), Russia will show off their massive arsenal as its troops continue to fight in Ukraine in what Putin has called a ‘special military operation’ since February 24.
Putin has remained defiant in the face of Western isolation since the invasion of Ukraine began. Putin is scheduled to address Moscow’s Red Square before a parade featuring soldiers, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles on Monday (9/5).
The Russian Ministry of Defense, in a statement, said supersonic fighter jets, Tu-160 strategic bombers and Il-80 ‘doomsday’ command planes will fly over St Basil’s Cathedral during the May 9 parade.
It will be the first time the Il-80 ‘doomsday’ command plane has been in the air since 2010. It will carry Russia’s top brass in the event of a nuclear war.
In that scenario, the Il-80 is designed to be a cruise command center for the Russian President. The plane is equipped with high technology, but the specific details are a state secret to Russia.
Putin himself has repeatedly compared the ‘special military operations’ in Ukraine to the challenges faced by the Soviet Union when Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces invaded in 1941.
“Attempts to appease the aggressor ahead of the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a mistake that cost us our people,” Putin said on February 24 when announcing the military operation into Ukraine.
“We will not make a mistake like that a second time, we have no right,” he insisted at the time.
Putin claims the military action in Ukraine is a battle to protect the Russian-speaking people there from neo-Nazi persecution. He also said the fighting in Ukraine was carried out to guard against what he called a threat from the United States (US) through the expansion of NATO.
Ukraine and Western countries reject the accusations as nonsense. Western countries have accused Putin of waging unwarranted aggression.
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