Vladimir Putin claimed during his Victory Day speech on Monday that the West "was planning to invade Russia" as he justified his war on Ukraine.
The Russian president said his country carried out a "preventative" strike on Ukraine as he addressed his people at the annual military parade.
The Kremlin leader tried to justify his invasion by claiming Russia was in danger, telling crowds that the war in Ukraine had been necessary because the West was "preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea".
Speaking directly to troops, Putin said: "You're fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of our motherland, Russia.
"We're proud of the generation of victors, and our duty is to preserve the memory of those who defeated Nazism."
He said the "horror of an international war" should not be repeated.
Putin's 11-minute speech didn't mention any progress he's made in the war and offered no indication of when he thinks it would end, as the Mirror UK reports.
He told Russians he will never give up his love of his Motherland as he claimed the West was preparing for the invasion of Russia.
Putin claimed that an "aggression" was planned against Russia and alleged that Kyiv was creating an "unacceptable threat", repeating the lie about Nazism in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, before the Victory Day speech was under way, Putin was humiliated by the Russian state TV coverage being hijacked by anti-war protesters.
Hackers broke into the online Russian TV scheduling page and insisted the country has “blood on its hands”, as the Express reports.
Francis Scarr of the BBC posted a video displaying the result of the hack on Twitter.
He highlighted that the name of every programme on the scheduling list was changed to a strongly-worded, anti-war message.
This, translated to English, read: “On your hands is the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and their hundreds of murdered children.
“TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”
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