Putin confident of victory in Ukraine as he attends Victory Day parade
發佈日期: 2026-05-09 21:53
TVB News
Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Security was tight in Moscow as Russian President Putin and several foreign leaders attended the Victory Day parade, even as a U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible attempts to disrupt the festivities.
Putin, who has been in power for more than a quarter-century, has used Victory Day, Russia's most important secular holiday to showcase the country's military might and rally support for his military action in Ukraine, now in its fifth year.
Putin and foreign leaders which included Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as part of Victory Day commemorations in Moscow.
Speaking at the parade, Putin hailed the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring they "face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of NATO." "Victory has always been and will be ours," Putin said.
But this year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover or combat jets.
And for the first time, the parade featured troops from North Korea, a tribute to Pyongyang that sent its soldiers to fight alongside Moscow forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
In Ukraine, citizens marked a more low key Remembrance Day as dozens of active-duty service members and war veterans gathered at the Park of Eternal Glory in Kyiv's Pechersk district to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers of World War II.
Ukrainain actor Volodymyr Talashko said, "I'm glad to see so many people here today - both military personnel and civilians. And I know that in the past, people from other countries have come here and always lovingly laid flowers for all the heroes of that war."
Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a truce that was supposed to begin on May 6, but neither of them held as the parties traded blame for continuing attacks.
