Following a claimed assassination attempt on president Putin last week, Russia is now launching a massive wave of drone strikes across Ukraine. The Russian Federation is also ramping up for their May 9 Victory Day holiday which commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Victory Day is president Putin’s most important Russian holiday which is one reason why Ukraine switched to recognize it on Monday instead of Tuesday for the first time ever.
The Attack
The Ukrainian capitol of Kiev, took major hits as mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that “Russia had fired 60 Iranian-made kamikaze drones at Ukrainian targets, including 36 at the capital, all of which had been shot down.” Although all of the drone strikes were shot down, debris managed to strike many buildings and injured at least five people according to authorities.
Food storage facilities in Odessa were completely torched during the attack in what is part of a new aerial attack plan by the Russians. The cities which took the brunt of the Russian attacks were Kyiv, Odesa and Kherson. The renewed Russian assault is believed to be aimed at capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut as a prize for Putin on Victory Day.
Victory Day
According to Newsmax:
In a new break with Moscow, Ukraine marked Victory Day on Monday, rather than Tuesday, in line with the practice of its Western allies. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had signed a decree to officially change the date in future.
The German army’s 1945 surrender took effect late at night on May 8 in Berlin, when it was already May 9 in Moscow, the date that became the Soviet holiday.
Ukraine, as part of the then-Soviet Union overrun by the Nazis, endured higher per capita casualties than Russia in World War Two and was one of the heartlands of European Jewry wiped out in the Holocaust.
“Recalling the heroism of millions of Ukrainians in that war against Nazism, we see the same heroism in the actions of our soldiers today,” said Zelenskyy, who addressed the nation from a hilltop overlooking Kyiv.
The symbolism of changing the date of Victory Day is very important because it marks Ukraine as independent from Russia. Victory Day recognizes a time when Ukraine and Russia were joined and fought together against Nazi Germany. Putin will use this day to say that Ukraine should be part of Russia because they share a common history. Ukraine wants no part of that.
