Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told his country’s Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square that “a real war” has been unleashed against Russia by the West’s “untamed ambitions,” shortly after the Kremlin’s forces rained cruise missiles on Ukrainian targets.
“Today civilization is once again at a decisive turning point,” Putin said at Moscow’s annual commemorations celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. “A real war has been unleashed against our motherland.”
Since Russia invaded its neighbour more than 14 months ago, the Kremlin’s official narrative of the war has painted a picture of an existential conflict
