The Russian President has claimed Russia is the country truly under attack in a speech at Moscow's Red Square.

President Vladimir Putin said “a real war” is being waged against Russia today. Speaking at a Victory Day parade in Moscow he said the country is under attack.  

“With sacrifice and heroic acts, [the Russians] saved the world from Nazism,” he said. “And today the world is on the cusp again.” 

“Today we have a real war waged against us.” 

Mr Putin also praised the Russian soldiers in Ukraine: "The whole country rallied to support our heroes. Everyone is ready to help, praying for you.” 

War in Ukraine

Since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, Mr Putin has repeatedly framed the war in Ukraine as a proxy conflict with the West. 

In his speech, Mr Putin insisted that the West is fuelling Nazism and their “untamed ambitions, arrogance and impunity” are to blame for the conflict.

Russian forces fired missiles at Kyiv overnight, but Ukraine's military said it destroyed 23 of 25 cruise missiles launched across the country. 

Victory Day

Victory Day celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.  

Russia analyst and former Russian resident Jason Corcoran told The Pat Kenny Show it was a much more “muted” parade this year.  

“The most striking thing was there was just one lonely T-34 tank that I noticed on Red Square,” he said. 

“There was no spectacular flyover, much like last year, which is much beloved by Muscovites.” 

He said there was a lack of “hardware” that is normally seen at the parade in previous years, likely because of the current conflict.  

Mr Corcoran said the Russian Government is using the recent alleged drone attack on the Kremlin as an excuse for the muted celebrations.  

There is also typically a march in honour of the people who died in war – but this year they said there were security concerns and did not hold a march.  

“But the real reason could have been the fear that relatives of fallen soldiers in Ukraine may have brandished photos of their dead relatives, which could have been embarrassing for the authorities,” Mr Corcoran said.