MOSCOW, May 9 — RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Russians on Victory Day, in his speech he recalled the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, recalled the actions of NATO in Ukraine and explained the reasons for the military operation in the Donbas.
"Dear citizens of Russia, dear veterans, fellow soldiers and sailors, sergeants and petty officers, midshipmen and ensigns, fellow officers, generals and admirals, I congratulate you on the Great Victory Day. The protection of the Motherland, when its fate was decided, has always been sacred," he said.
Addressing the servicemen, among whom were the participants of the operation in Ukraine, the head of state recalled the participants of other significant battles in the history of the country.
According to the President, despite all the differences in international relations, Moscow "has always advocated the creation of a system of equal and indivisible security," offered Western countries an agreement on security guarantees, but was not heard.
"The NATO countries did not want to hear us, which means that in fact they had completely different plans, and we saw it. Preparations were openly underway for another punitive operation in the Donbas, an invasion of our historical lands, including Crimea," he said.
Putin noted that Kiev had announced the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Putin, in an address to the citizens of the country on February 24, recalled the pages of history related to the Great Patriotic War, noting that then, in 1940-1941, the USSR tried to prevent or at least delay the outbreak of war, "sought literally to the last not to provoke a potential aggressor, did not carry out or postponed the most necessary, obvious actions to prepare for repulse the inevitable attack", and this led to the fact that the actions taken in the end "were already catastrophically late".
As the head of state noted, "the enemy was stopped and then crushed, but at a colossal cost," the mistake associated with the attempt to appease the aggressor cost the people of the country dearly. The Russian leader stressed that "we will not make such a mistake a second time, we have no right."
