Ukraine condemns foreign participation in Moscow's 9 May parade

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Ukraine emphasized that it cherishes the memory of World War II, which devastated every Ukrainian family.

"The front passed through our entire territory twice, and the total human losses of the Ukrainian people amounted to eight million dead: five million civilians and three million military personnel. More than six million Ukrainians fought in the Red Army, hundreds of thousands were part of resistance movements and the armies of the anti-Hitler coalition," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

The Ministry emphasized that today, against the Ukrainian people, a brutal and unprovoked war of aggression is being waged, during which Russian soldiers have committed hundreds of thousands of war crimes, killed 620, and wounded nearly 2,000, deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children.

"Mass shootings of civilians, mass graves, rapes, looting, detention of civilian hostages, torture, and executions of prisoners of war, the use of indiscriminate weapons, strikes on densely populated residential areas, energy infrastructure, and civilian infrastructure. The Russian army has committed and continues to commit atrocities in Ukraine that Europe has not seen since World War II," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed.

This army will march on May 9 in Moscow's Red Square — not the liberators of Europe, but occupiers and war criminals. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that marching alongside them means sharing responsibility for the blood of murdered Ukrainian children, civilians, and military personnel, and not honoring the victory over Nazism.

Russia invites foreign soldiers to participate in the 9 May parade to whitewash its war crimes and justify its aggression.

"Participation of foreign soldiers in this event is unacceptable and will be viewed by Ukraine as a desecration of the memory of the victory over Nazism, the memory of millions of Ukrainian front-line soldiers who liberated our country and all of Europe from Nazism 80 years ago. We call on all foreign countries to refrain from allowing their soldiers to participate in the Moscow parade on 9 May," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

It added that this is especially true for countries that declare neutrality in relation to Russian aggression against Ukraine or maintain a consistently neutral position in international relations. The participation of military personnel from these countries in the joint parade would directly violate such declared neutrality and would appear as support for the aggressor state.

"We call on all foreign states and international organizations to honor the victims of World War II and the collective victory over Nazism in a dignified manner, while not justifying Russian aggression and atrocities against Ukrainians," the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded.

• Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced his intention to attend the Moscow parade on 9 May, despite deteriorating health following last year's assassination attempt. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also visit Russia and stay there for four days.
• At the same time, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the participation of European leaders in the 9 May parade in Moscow is politically unacceptable.
• Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military intelligence reported that ahead of the so-called Victory Day on 9 May, Russia will intensify its network of agents in Europe and the U.S. In many capitals around the world, propagandists have planned a series of information and propaganda events.