May 9th is the day that Russia celebrates the surrender of Nazi Germany, always with overdone military parades through Red Square putting their military hardware on display. This year's parade has particular import, as it follows Putin's brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Reuters is reporting that war criminal Putin will "send a doomsday warning" to the West over their opposition to his aggression and war crimes in Ukraine:
"Defiant in the face of deep Western isolation since he ordered the invasion of Russia's neighbour, Putin will speak on Red Square before a parade of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
A fly-past over St Basil's Cathedral will include supersonic fighters, Tu-160 strategic bombers and, for the first time since 2010, the Il-80 "doomsday" command plane, which would carry Russia's top brass in the event of a nuclear war, the Defence Ministry said.
In that scenario, the Il-80 is designed to become the roaming command centre for the Russian president. It is packed with technology but specific details are Russian state secrets."
Given the Russian military's demonstrated ineptitude and its shoddy equipment, perhaps a dramatic crash of the "doomsday" command plane in the middle of Red Square might give the sawed-off psychopath pause. Or at least a breakdown of some of their ill-maintained and designed tanks. What a great image that would be. But we digress.
Putin knows he will have to announce some non-existent "successes" in the Ukraine war to the Russian people, which shouldn't be a reach given his control over Russian media. His thuggish army has been engaged in war crimes / crimes against humanity, as they use the thuggery as an instrument for terrorizing the population. They've made little or no progress in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine despite overwhelming numbers and missile attacks, and have been pushed out of the area around Kyiv and mostly from around Kharkiv in the north. Russia's flag ship the Moskva sits at the bottom of the Black Sea, along with other ships. An unprecedented number of Russian generals are going home in body bags, along with thousands of their troops. Nothing to brag about, but like his American friend the Malignant Loser would, he'll make up something and couch it as a fight against Western "Nazis" bent on destroying his righteous Russia.
(photo: Putin flanked by two "Weekend At Bernie's" stand-ins/ YouTube screen grab)
