Putins speech at the Victory Parade on Red Square Part 1
Fellow Russian citizens,
Dear veterans,
Comrade soldiers and seamen, sergeants and sergeant majors, midshipmen and warrant officers,
Comrade officers, generals and admirals,
I congratulate you on the Day of Great Victory!
The defence of our Motherland when its destiny was at stake has always been sacred. It was the feeling of true patriotism
that Minin and Pozharsky’s militia stood up for the Fatherland, soldiers went on the offensive at the Borodino Field and fought
the enemy outside Moscow and Leningrad, Kiev and Minsk, Stalingrad and Kursk, Sevastopol and Kharkov.
Today, as in the past, you are fighting for our people in Donbass, for the security of our Motherland, for Russia.
May 9, 1945 has been enshrined in world history forever as a triumph of the united Soviet people, its cohesion and spiritual
power, an unparalleled feat on the front lines and on the home front.
Victory Day is intimately dear to all of us. There is no family in Russia that was not burnt by the Great Patriotic War.
Its memory never fades. On this day, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the heroes march in an
endless flow of the Immortal Regiment. They carry photos of their family members, the fallen soldiers who remained young
forever, and the veterans who are already gone.
We take pride in the unconquered courageous generation of the victors, we are proud of being their successors,
and it is our duty to preserve the memory of those who defeated Nazism and entrusted us with being vigilant and doing everything to thwart the horror of another global war.
Therefore, despite all controversies in international relations, Russia has always advocated the establishment of an equal
and indivisible security system which is critically needed for the entire international community.
Last December we proposed signing a treaty on security guarantees. Russia urged the West to hold an honest dialogue in
search for meaningful and compromising solutions, and to take account of each other’s interests.
All in vain. NATO countries did not want to heed us, which means they had totally different plans. And we saw it.
Another punitive operation in Donbass, an invasion of our historic lands, including Crimea, was openly in the making.
Kiev declared that it could attain nuclear weapons. The NATO bloc launched an active military build-up on the territories
adjacent to us.
Thus, an absolutely unacceptable threat to us was steadily being created right on our borders. There was every indication
that a clash with neo-Nazis and Banderites backed by the United States and their minions was unavoidable.
Let me repeat, we saw the military infrastructure being built up, hundreds of foreign advisors starting work, and regular supplies
of cutting-edge weaponry being delivered from NATO countries. The threat grew every day.
Part 1
Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/68366