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Drone attacks that shut down Moscow’s airports, renewed assaults on Russian territory and new claims to have “stalled” Russia’s costly eastern offensive all add up to red faces in the Kremlin, as it prepares to celebrate 80 years since the Nazis were vanquished.
Vladimir Putin has, among other things, claimed that his full scale invasion of Ukraine was to topple the “Nazi regime” (headed by a Jew) ruling Kyiv. None of the world leaders intending to attend Russia’s parades this week believe that nonsense.
They will note, however, that Ukraine is showing the resilience of a democracy backed by other democracies. And that, perhaps, Volodymyr Zelensky is feeling his country is more secure now that he has locked in American interests in Ukraine’s minerals – and a new uplift in US-made air defences.
After four months of resolutely taking Russia’s side in all and every aspect of international affairs and negotiations over a “ceasefire”, Donald Trump recently agreed to transfer a Patriot missile system from Israel to Ukraine, while Greece or Germany are considering the same, according to The New York Times.
This volte face comes after Ukraine agreed to a mineral exploitation deal that credits the dollar value of American military aid to Ukraine to a joint US-Ukrainian fund as a capital investment in future minerals exploitation.
The weapons now for future mineral profits exchange has given Trump a financial incentive to back Ukraine and represents a diplomatic victory for Zelensky.
Putin has offered a three day ceasefire from May 8 to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi German’s 80th anniversary. Ukraine has countered by saying its will not observe the Russian ceasefire but would offer an open ended ceasefire.
Hundreds of delegates and heads of government who support Putin have been invited to attend a May 9 parade by Moscow’s forces through the capital city. But the city’s four main airports were shut down overnight Monday into Tuesday after the capital came under a sustained attack by Ukrainian drones.
Zelensky had warned over the weekend that Putin’s guests would be vulnerable if they attended events in Russia.
“Our position is very simple for all countries traveling to Russia on May 9: We cannot be held responsible for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation,” he said.
He also claimed that Russia might launch “arson and bombings” during the festivities in false flag attacks to blame Ukraine.
The Moscow drone assaults are clearly intended to scare off visitors to Putin’s parade. A similar event planned for Russian-occupied Crimea has already been cancelled because it is so often the target of Ukrainian missile and drone attacks.
Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister and long-time supporter of Putin, said on Monday that “I have to object to the statements made by the Ukrainian president Zelensky… Zelensky thinks that these threats will mean that foreign delegations don’t go there [to Moscow] - he is sorely mistaken”.
Ukraine is extremely unlikely to threaten the lives of foreign leaders in Moscow. But Zelensky has used the international focus on the memorial parades to remind the world that assumptions his country is on its knees, and must inevitably sue for peace with its invader are, in his view, false.
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