President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. and its allies they can’t defeat Russia, rallying domestic support for his invasion of Ukraine in a speech marking a key victory in World War II.
“Those who expect to win a victory against Russia on the battlefield don’t understand that modern-day war with Russia will turn out totally differently for them,” he said at a concert on Thursday in Volgograd, which had been temporarily renamed Stalingrad for the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi forces there. “We aren’t sending tanks to their borders but we have the means to fight back and they won’t be limited to armor. Everyone should understand this.”
As Putin’s invasion drags toward its second year, the Kremlin, seeking to shore up public support for the widening war effort, has increasingly sought to portray it as a fight against attempts by the U.S. and its allies to subdue Russia. Ukraine’s supporters have been careful to avoid a direct conflict with Moscow’s forces, though they are steadily stepping up supplies of weapons. Kyiv has said repeatedly its aim is to oust Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
