Vladimir Putin has told Russian soldiers they are “fighting for the same thing their fathers and grandfathers did” as he used his Victory Day speech to tie the war in Ukraine to the memory of the second world war and justify his invasion. Prior to the speech, foreign officials had said Putin could use it to launch a full mobilisation of Russian troops or formally declare war in Ukraine, but there were no large policy announcements.
In a rare mention of Russian casualties in Ukraine, Putin said that the “the death of each of our soldiers and officers is a grief for all of us and an irreparable loss for relatives and friends”, adding that he signed a law that “will provide special support to the children of the dead and wounded comrades”.
Commemorating victory over Nazi Germany, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Ukraine would win in its war with Russia and not cede any territory. In a video posted to social media, the Ukrainian president said: “We are fighting for our children’s freedom and therefore we will win. Very soon there will be two victory days in Ukraine. And someone won’t have any. We won then. We will win now.”
Residents of Russian-occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia oblast have had their personal documents taken away by Russian authorities, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces has said, saying they would be returned “on the basis of the participation of the latter in the solemn events … of Victory Day”.
Kirill Stremousov, deputy chairman of the pro-Russian military-civilian administration in Kherson in southern Ukraine has said: “We will integrate as much as possible into the Russian Federation”.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has revealed shortcomings in its ability to conduct precision strikes at scale, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update
The European Union should consider seizing frozen Russian foreign exchange reserves to help pay for the cost of rebuilding Ukraine after the war, its foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said in an interview.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is expected to travel to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday and to make a major address. It will be his first trip abroad since his re-election and Ukraine is expected to be high on the agenda for the two leaders.
UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has accused leaders of Russia’s armed forces of “amorality and corruption” and said the conflict in Ukraine brings “dishonour”.
The UK government has expanded its sanctions against Russia to include punitive import tariffs on Russian precious metals, as well as export bans on certain UK products, to increase economic pressure on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.
Traumatised Ukrainian refugees who have sought sanctuary in the UK may have to wait two years before they can get specialised therapy to help them heal from the horrors of war.
