Ukraine launched a barrage of drones that forced Russia to restrict flights in a dozen airports this Tuesday, days before 29 leaders attend the parade of May 9 in Moscow to commemorate the victory against Nazi Germany.
The Kremlin announced that 29 leaders, including the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and China, Xi Jinping, will be present at the military ceremony in the Red Square of Moscow.
The ceremony generates expectation, since Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to use his speech to justify the offensive launched by Moscow in Ukraine in February 2022, which has caused tens of thousands of dead.
This military operation allowed the Russian army to take large stripes of east and southern Ukraine territories.
“We expect the presence of 29 foreign leaders in the victory parade,” Russian President Yuri Ushakov, Yuri Ushakov told the press.
Moscow also announced the presence of the leaders of Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Bosnia, Vietnam, Egypt, Zimbabue, Iraq, Congo, Burma, Ethiopia and Equatorial Guinea, who will join the traditional allies of Russia in Central Asia, among others.
The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, after a first escalation in St. Petersburg, Cuban media and the Russian agency Sputnik reported.
The presence of the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico -is also expected to challenge the position of the EU-, of the Serbian head of state, Aleksandar Vucic, and the president of the Serbians of Bosnia, Milorad Dodik.
This year, for the commemorations of the main patriotic celebration in Russia, which culminates with a military parade against Kremlin, Putin ordered a high unilateral fire from May 8 to 10.
The Kremlin has also affirmed that it continues with the three -day truce that he proposed to coincide with the parade, which Ukraine has labeled Moscow’s mere attempt for guaranteeing the security of the event.
Ukraine, who since February 2022 resists the Russian troops, did not say clearly if the truce adheres.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski indicated that Russia must “disturb” for the security of the parade, which attracts thousands of people who often come as a family every year.
Ushakov said that “formations from 13 countries” will parade, including China, Egypt, Vietnam, Burma and several Soviet ex -refuels.
kyiv warned the troops of third countries that do not march next to the Russian soldiers in the red square, stating that this would be equivalent to “sharing the responsibility” of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
– An attack that affected air traffic –
In the early hours of Tuesday, Ukraine bombed the Russian territory with 105 drones directed mainly against Moscow and this attack forced several airports to close.
The attack disturbed the operations in a dozen airports, four of them in Moscow and some had to close their clues, the Russian Civil Aviation Agency Rossaviatsia reported.
This year, the Russian government provides ceremonies of an unprecedented scale to commemorate Victory Day and for several days, Moscow streets have been adorned with national colors.
Numerous shops and restaurants placed posters urging people to “remember” the 1945 victory and feel “proud.”
In the last three years, Putin often evoked the memory of the victory over Nazi Germany to defend the military offensive against Ukraine, stating that Russia wants to “desnazify” the neighboring country, which continues to occupy around 20% of the territory.
World war II, which charged more than 20 million lives in the USSR and demanded sacrifices unprecedented to the population, caused a trauma that still feels in society and feeds a patriotism widely used by the Russian president.
Since the beginning of the offensive to Ukraine, the Russian government prohibited any criticism of the Armed Forces, intensifying a repression that has led several hundred people to jail and thousands more to exile.
Ukraine criticized the commemorations of May 9 in Russia, stating that they have “nothing to do with the victory over Nazism” and that the military who parade are “most likely” involved in crimes against Ukrainians.
In Moscow the security and the organizers of the parade were reinforced prohibited spectators from carrying electronic cigarettes, skateboards or pets to the Victory Day parade.
Despite the tension, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday the exchange of 205 Ukrainian prisoners of war for many other Russians.
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