Last Friday, the Russian government began evacuating towns close to the front in the Zaporizhia region. The city of Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is located, was also affected. Balizki spoke of a temporary resettlement of residents for the safety of the population. “If we drive the fascists back to the German borders, people can go back to their homeland,” he said. Russian propaganda often portrays its war of aggression against Ukraine as repelling a fascist threat.
In the war that began more than 14 months ago, Russia occupied large tracts of land, mainly in southern and eastern Ukraine. Overall, Russia still retains around 20% of Ukraine’s territory under its control, including the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. After the Russians’ unsuccessful winter offensive, military experts now expect a Ukrainian counter-offensive with which Kiev intends to recover areas.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, preparations were underway for the Tuesday military parade to celebrate the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht took effect on May 8, 1945 at 11:01 pm , Moscow time was already May 9th. As a sign of the break with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to make May 8 an official holiday in Ukraine. May 9th is supposed to be Europe Day.