Putin addresses nation at Victory Day parade in Moscow 5/09/22 Transcript

Vladimir Putin: (00:05) Fellow citizens of Russia, veterans, comrade soldiers, sailors, naval officers, army officers, corporals, members of the office of corps. I would like to congratulate you on this, the day where we remember the great victory. The moment when the country defended itself against an existential threat, that innate patriotism, that resistance spirit that was in the fighters in Kiev, Minsk, Stalingrad, Moscow, Kursk, Sevastopol, and Kharkov. Even today, you are fighting for our citizens, for our people in the Donbas region to defend Russia. On the 9th of May, 1945, on that historic date our people triumphed together. Vladimir Putin: (01:24) This was a perfect achievement on the front lines and behind. This day of victory is important to everyone in Russia. There is not a single family in Russia that was spared by the war. The regiment of Immortals today honors ancestors. They bear the portraits of their fathers and grandfathers, veterans who are no longer with us. We are proud of the fighting spirit. Our duty is to protect The memory of everyone who fought The Nazis and to do everything we can to make sure that never again, shall we see the atrocities of that war. Despite issues, Russia has always fought for the security that is required for the international community. Vladimir Putin: (02:35) In December last year, we offered to create a system. This was a security system and we called on the west to join us in this endeavor. But everything was in vain, the west did not heed us. This means that the west was more interested in other projects, as we saw openly at that time. They were preparing for reprisals in crime and Donbas. In Kiev there was talk of nuclear weapons, and things moved closer to our borders. Little by little, an unacceptable threat made its way closer to our borders. Everything showed that the Banderas and neo-Nazis were inevitable. I say it again: we clearly saw the deployment of military infrastructure. We clearly saw the supplies of military equipment and the threat was growing every day. Vladimir Putin: (03:58) Russia did everything to prevent the advance of the aggressor. It was the only correct decision, the sovereign decision of an independent country. The United States, especially after the fault of the Soviet Union, Started talking about American exceptionalism, humiliating the rest of the world in doing so, including their allies, satellites who closed their eyes to what was being done and swallowed everything. But we in Russia are different. We will never give up on our love of our country. We will never give up on our values, on our traditions, our ancestral traditions. In the west, these thousand year old traditions have been done away with. History has been rewritten in the west. Vladimir Putin: (05:08) The victims of the Second World War are disregarded. We know that the veterans of the Second World War who wanted to be with us today to commemorate the Second World War we're not given permission to come to Russia. But know that today, we pay homage to every veteran from America, from France, resistance, Chinese people, everyone who fought against Nazism. Today, the militia in Donbas, alongside the Russian army are fighting for their land. [inaudible 00:06:02] of the Potemkin soldiers, this is where the fighters of the Second World War fought hand in hand. I would like to speak to the militia in Donbas. You are fighting for the future of your country. You are fighting so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War. Today, we pay homage to the sacrifice of all those who fell. The sons, the daughters, the husbands, the wives, the sisters, family members, grandfathers, grandmothers. Today, we bow to their memory. Vladimir Putin: (07:01) People who were burnt alive in 2014, the civilians in Donbas who fell to neo-Nazi fire. We bow to the memories of the fighters who fought in this, just fight for Russia. Now hold a minute of silence. Vladimir Putin: (08:35) The death of every one of our officers and soldiers is a loss for their loved ones, is a loss for civilian society, for regions, and we will do everything to help those families. We will support them, and we will especially support the children of others who fell for our country. I have just assigned a law in order to do that. I commend the soldiers who are wounded, as well as the medical staff, the doctors and nurses for their devotion. I commend you for your efforts to defend and save lives while risking your very own. Comrades, here on Red Square, the soldiers and officers stand side by side. Soldiers and officers from the different regions of our country, including those who come from the front line, from the Donbas. We remember that our enemies tried to turn international terrorist bands against us in order to divide us, in order to break us, but they failed. Vladimir Putin: (10:09) Today, our fighters from all the different nations of our country are United and fight together side by side to defend us, and that is our strength, the strength of the unity of our great people. We are fighting to defend what was defended by our ancestors. Because above all, they cherished independence and the security of our homeland. All of those who defeated Nazism in the great patriotic war, they all gave us a lesson to learn, and we will always follow the example. Glory to our troops. Glory to Russia and glory to victory.