We will not forget. We will win

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his address on the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, said Ukraine is fighting for a new victory in the war with Russia. “We will never forget what our ancestors did in World War II, which killed more than eight million Ukrainians,” said Zelensky. “Very soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine. And someone won’t have any,” he added.

For its part, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to perceive the Russian celebrations on May 9 as propaganda shows that have nothing to do with the memory of World War II.

More temperate speech and military parade

In the inauguration of the military parade in Moscow, Putin said that Russia’s intervention in Ukraine had been necessary because the West was “preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea.”

Addressing massed ranks of servicemen on Red Square on the 77th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, Putin condemned what he called external threats to weaken and split Russia, and repeated familiar arguments he had used to justify its invasion -- that NATO was creating threats right next to its borders.

He directly addressed soldiers fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine which Russia has pledged to “liberate” from Kyiv. “Defending the Motherland when its fate is being decided has always been sacred,” he said. “Today you are fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of Russia, our homeland.”

Aleksey Arestovich, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, “read” between the lines in Vladimir Putin’s speech whether there would be a nuclear war. “Seriously speaking, Putin’s key phrase in his speech is “the inadmissibility of a global war.” Read – the end of the atomic alarm, and “… a terrible clash with NATO,” he wrote.

War didn’t end on May 8 or May 9

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the war in Ukraine broke “with many things that seemed to us beyond question,” calling it an “epochal turning point.” Russian President Vladimir Putin was “once and for all destroying the basis of the European blueprint for lasting peace that we created after the Second World War and the Cold War,” Steinmeier said. The German president also said one lesson to be learned from the current situation was that “the best price on world markets should not be the only thing to determine with whom one does business.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that there can be “no peace under Russian dictatorship” in Ukraine and Berlin will continue to support Kyiv. Earlier in May, Die Welt reported that Ukraine will receive weapons from the reserves of the Bundeswehr.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that Russia is “mirroring the fascism and tyranny” of World War Two Nazis in its invasion of Ukraine. Speaking as Russia staged a military parade marking the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, he accused Russian generals of hijacking their “forebears’ proud history” and said generals must face war crimes trials.

Critical materials about “special operation” in Ukraine

Employees of Lenta.ru published on the main page of the site materials criticizing the actions of Vladimir Putin and calling for an end to the war in Ukraine. The materials were later removed.

TV viewers on May 9 reported that several large Russian operators had hacked the schedule of TV programs on cable networks. Hacking was recorded at Rostelecom, MTS and NTV-Plus. Inscriptions appeared on TV screens regarding the military operation in Ukraine.

Instead of accession, a new type of ...imponderability

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has said it will take “decades” for a candidate like Ukraine to join the European Union, and suggested building a broader political community of democratic states around the bloc.

Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Monday, Macron called his re-election last month a signal that the French had wanted more Europe.

Odessa, important for everyone

European Council President Charles Michel visited Odessa: “And today I came to celebrate Europe Day in a melting pot of European culture and history: Odessa, the city where Pushkin said that “you can feel Europe”. Right here, where the people of Odessa shield their monuments from the bullets and rockets, just like Ukrainians are shielding their freedom from the Russian aggression.

“And we will help you to build a modern, democratic country. A forward-looking country, ready to embrace with confidence your European future, our common European future, your place in our common European family.”

Leaders of the Group of Seven countries pledged to ban the import of Russian oil. Ukraine will be helped to export grain by alternative routes after Zelenskyy called for immediate moves to open Ukrainian ports blockaded by Russia to allow wheat exports and prevent a global food crisis.