Today our soldiers, like their ancestors, are fighting shoulder to shoulder to liberate their homeland from the Nazis. “This is done with the confidence that victory will be ours, as happened in 1945,” Putin said. Russia has claimed since the start of the war that it invaded Ukraine on February 24 to “disarm” and “disarm” the country.

“It is our common duty to prevent the return of Nazism, which caused so much suffering among the population of different countries,” the Russian president said. He expressed the hope that “new generations will be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers.”

On May 8 every year, many European countries commemorate the official surrender of Nazi Germany on that day in 1945. The anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany will not be officially commemorated until Monday in Russia, because the surrender there was after midnight due to the time difference. The victory is celebrated with a military parade on Red Square in Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also commemorated World War II in a speech and also talked about the parallels between World War II and the current war in his country. “Darkness has returned to Ukraine after decades,” the president said. They wear different clothes and use different slogans, but they serve the same purpose.