News

Oct 11, 2023

Russia

President Vladimir V. Putin gave a televised address from Moscow’s Red Square

President Vladimir V. Putin gave a televised address from Moscow's Red Square ahead of a pared-back military parade, hours after Ukraine's air defenses intercepted Russian cruise missiles headed for Kyiv.

Anatoly Kurmanaev, Ivan Nechepurenko and Shashank Bengali

President Vladimir V. Putin on Tuesday struck a defiant though largely familiar tone on Victory Day, the nation's most important secular holiday, casting his invasion of Ukraine as a struggle for national survival akin to World War II. But the day's celebrations of the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany were muted, reflecting the uneasy moment facing Russia in the 15-month conflict.

Russia has been struggling on the battlefield; a long-heralded Ukrainian counteroffensive looms; and Ukraine has stepped up attacks in Russian-occupied territory and has been accused of striking within Russia. Many Victory Day events across the country were canceled or scaled back because of security concerns, and the annual military parade in Moscow's Red Square — normally a display of the size and power of the Kremlin's arsenal — proceeded without a single modern tank or its signature flyover.

Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, offered a counterpoint to the Russian events, calling for the expansion of the European Union and stressing the importance of its unity in a speech marking Europe Day, the anniversary of a key moment in 1950 toward European unification. "Europe's future is in our hands," he told E.U. lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. That future, he said, "certainly does not belong to the revisionists who dream of national glory or crave imperial power" — a clear reference to Russia's leadership.

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Mr. Putin kept to his usual talking points during his 10-minute speech, repeating grievances against Kyiv and its Western allies and accusing them of "pursuing the dissolution and the destruction of our country." But his forceful tone and explicit linking of the war in Ukraine to the struggle against Nazi Germany conveyed gravity during what is a deeply emotive event for many Russians.

Russia continues to lean on its aerial weaponry against Ukraine. Early in the day, a wave of cruise missiles targeted Kyiv in the fifth large-scale Russian aerial attack against the capital city this month. Loud explosions rang out as air defenses intercepted the missiles. No casualties or damage were immediately reported.

Other European leaders also made shows of support for Ukraine. Shortly after the last Russian missile was destroyed above Kyiv, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived there. "Good to be back in Kyiv," she wrote on Twitter. "Where the values we hold dear are defended every day."

Ukraine's grain exports have fallen sharply weeks before a key Black Sea shipping agreement with Russia is scheduled to expire, United Nations data released on Tuesday showed. Turkey said it would host talks with Ukrainian, Russian and U.N. representatives this week as negotiators try to extend an agreement that the United Nations says is important for the global food supply.

Anushka Patil

A video journalist working for Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, was killed by rocket fire near the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse said on Tuesday. Some of the heaviest battles of the war are being fought in and around the nearby city of Bakhmut.

The journalist, Arman Soldin, 32, and four colleagues were with Ukrainian soldiers when they came under a Grad rocket attack on Tuesday afternoon, the agency said. Mr. Soldin was killed. No one on the rest of the team, which included a security adviser, was injured.

Mr. Soldin is the 17th journalist to be killed in Ukraine since 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. His death came just two weeks after a Ukrainian journalist was killed and an Italian journalist was injured in an attack on their way to the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

Mr. Soldin was one of the agency's first journalists to arrive in Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion, and he regularly reported from the front lines. He survived a close rocket attack last week while reporting on soldiers who were digging trenches near Bakhmut.

Being caught under a rain of Grad yesterday with a bunch of trench-diggers is probably one of the worst things that I've experienced since being in #Ukraine, with rockets exploding less than 50 metres away. Pure terror. Sound on #afp #ukraine #bakhmut #Donetsk pic.twitter.com/aiyBHgYXAm

Mr. Soldin also shared lighter moments from the front lines — last month, he rescued an injured hedgehog found after Russian shelling in Chasiv Yar. Mr. Soldin and his colleagues built a makeshift shelter for the hedgehog, whom they named Lucky; collected insects for him to eat; and "started googling what baby hedgehogs need," Mr. Soldin wrote on Twitter.

When Lucky finally accepted water from a bottle improvised out of medical equipment, Mr. Soldin rejoiced: "I AM OFFICIALLY A DAD !"

Sooo.. here is an unusually cute story from our day of reporting around #Bakhmut ! We found a baby hedgehog that was dehydrated and dying at the worst place possible in Chassiv Yar ...Quick thread ! 🧶🧶🧶1/11 #ukraine #animals @dodo pic.twitter.com/DvTVPnjxh5

Mr. Soldin, a French national who was born in Bosnia, was "courageous, creative and tenacious," Phil Chetwynd, the agency's global news director, said in a statement. "He was above all an excellent journalist who was totally committed to the story."

France's president, Emmanuel Macron, paid tribute to Mr. Soldin on Tuesday, tweeting that he had courageously been at the front from the first hours of the conflict "to establish the facts. To inform us." He added, "We share the pain of his loved ones and all his colleagues."

John Ismay

WASHINGTON — The United States will provide Ukraine with up to $1.2 billion to purchase additional air defense missiles, artillery ammunition and satellite imagery from commercial companies, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. The financial aid comes as part of a program called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows Kyiv to purchase goods directly from the defense industry.

"The U.S.A.I. gives us the ability to leverage the power and the capabilities of the private sector in order to support Ukraine's medium and long term security assistance needs," said Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, on Tuesday afternoon in a briefing to reporters.

From 2016 to 2021, Washington gave Kyiv more than $1.32 billion as part of the same initiative, according to government records. The new aid announcement brings the total provided under the same initiative since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, to nearly $14.6 billion.

Funds provided as part of the initiative have gone to purchase attack drones, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Soviet-caliber and NATO-standard artillery ammunition, coastal defense missiles, armored riverine boats, M1 Abrams tanks, NASAMS air-defense missile launchers, M142 HIMARS vehicles and the guided rockets they fire among many others.

The goods will arrive in Ukraine in the months and years to come, as defense companies produce them. The aid announced on Tuesday is separate from the 37 previously announced aid packages of military hardware taken from the Pentagon's existing stockpile since August 2021, which is cumulatively worth at least $21 billion.

A major focus of the $1.2 billion in new funds for Ukraine will go to purchase air-defense missiles for Kyiv to use in repelling Russian aerial attacks, General Ryder said. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has been targeted repeatedly by Russian strikes, including on Monday and early Tuesday.

"We’re going to continue to rush ground-based air defense capabilities and munitions to help Ukraine control its sovereign skies and to help Ukraine defend its citizens from Russian cruise missiles and Iranian drones," he said. "This is something that we’re going to keep after both in the near term and the long term."

General Ryder also confirmed reports that an American-made Patriot air-defense system provided to Ukraine shot down a Russian Kinzhal missile last Thursday.

The Kinzhal, which is an air-launched version of an Iskander ballistic missile, is believed to meet the definition of a hypersonic weapon — namely that it can fly and maneuver at speeds equal to or greater than five times the speed of sound, a feature meant to defeat antimissile defenses.

In addition to a single U.S.-provided Patriot system, the Ukrainians are also operating one provided by the Netherlands, General Ryder said, but he deferred questions to the Ukrainian government on which one had been used to engage the Russian Kinzhal.

Aishvarya Kavi contributed reporting.

Tyler Hicks

The small city of Chasiv Yar, near where a video journalist for Agence France-Presse was killed by rocket fire on Tuesday, has seen most of its pre-war population of 15,000 flee in the last year. The eastern city has become a supply route for the Ukrainian Army in Bakhmut, six miles to the west, and near-constant bombardment throughout most of the war has left its remaining 1,500 residents without electricity and running water. They now rely on humanitarian aid to survive.

John Ismay

Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, confirmed Ukraine's claim that an American-made Patriot air-defense missile successfully intercepted a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile, one of the most sophisticated conventional weapons in Russia's arsenal, last week. He said he could not confirm whether the Patriot used was one provided by the United States or the Dutch.

Anushka Patil

A video journalist for Agence France-Presse, Arman Soldin, was killed by rocket fire near Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, the news agency said.

Edward Wong

At their news conference in Washington, the top U.S. and British diplomats, Antony J. Blinken and James Cleverly, urged Russia to commit immediately to extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative. They said Russia should stop trying to "weaponize" hunger around the world for leverage in the war. Blinken said Russia had resumed blocking some ships from arriving at Ukraine's ports to pick up the grain.

Edward Wong

Russia has threatened to withdraw from the arrangement by May 18, only two months into what U.S. officials say is supposed to be a four-month extension. Initially brokered last summer with the help of the U.N., the deal has ensured that the Russian Navy allows ships loaded with grain to head to world markets from several of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, with a stop off the coast of Istanbul for inspections.

Andrew E. Kramer

Buzzing like an oversize mosquito, a small drone lifted off from a farm field in eastern Ukraine, hovered for a bit, then raced toward Russian positions near the battle-ravaged city of Bakhmut.

"Friends, let's go!" said the pilot, Private Yevhen. With a pair of virtual reality goggles strapped around his head, he used joysticks to steer the craft and its payload of two pounds of explosives.

Cobbled together from hobby drones, consumer electronics and computer gaming gear, handmade attack drones like this one have emerged as one of the deadliest and most widespread innovations in more than 14 months of warfare in Ukraine.

Along the front line, drones extend the reach of soldiers, who can fly them with pinpoint accuracy to drop hand grenades into enemy trenches or bunkers, or fly into targets to blow up on impact. Self-destructing drones, in particular, are easily constructed, and thousands of soldiers on both sides now have experience building them from commonly available parts — though the Ukrainians say they use such weapons more frequently than their Russian opponents.

These small craft proliferated on the battlefield last fall, long before Russia said last week that two explosions over the Kremlin were a drone strike. Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the incident, and if attack drones did, in fact, fly over the Kremlin walls, it is unclear what type they were, what kind of range they had, or who was responsible.

For years, the United States deployed Predator and Reaper drones in Iraq and Afghanistan that cost tens of millions of dollars apiece, and can fire missiles and then return to their bases. Ukraine, in contrast, has adapted a wide array of small craft that are widely available as consumer products, from quadcopters to fixed-wing drones, to spot artillery targets and drop grenades.

Edward Wong

The U.S. secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Washington with James Cleverly, the British foreign minister, said that he believed Ukraine had "what they need to continue to be successful in regaining territory that was seized by force by Russia over the last 14 months." The diplomats appeared after talking in private about coordinating further military aid and other support to Ukraine.

Edward Wong

Cleverly said, "The Ukrainians both politically and militarily have learned quickly, have been relentlessly focused on using the support that we give them effectively, and have consistently outperformed expectations, certainly the expectations of Vladimir Putin."

Edward Wong

Cleverly also praised the U.S. goverment's enduring aid to Ukraine, and said: "We need to continue to support them irrespective of whether or not this forthcoming offensive generates huge gains on the battlefield. Because until this conflict is resolved and resolved properly, it is not over."

Ben Shpigel

The United States announced on Tuesday another aid package for Ukraine — this one totaling "up to $1.2 billion" — as the Biden administration further bolsters Kyiv in advance of an expected counteroffensive. The package includes ammunition and equipment to aid Ukraine's air defense systems; commercial satellite imagery services; and support for training and maintenance.

Peter Baker

As the White House announced the new assistance to Ukraine, Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, said that Putin had upended the spirit of Victory Day. "It's supposed to be about the end of war and bloodshed and suffering," she said."Instead Mr. Putin promised only more violence and spewed even more lies."

Nicole Tung

Kyiv residents marked their country's own Victory Day over Nazism in World War II by visiting patriotic monuments around the city. Flowers were laid at the base of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier and on the memorials around it, and people walked among armored vehicles on display under the shadow of the Motherland Monument.

Erika Solomon

Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Beijing could choose to play a major role in ending the war in Ukraine and warned against undermining Western sanctions on Russia, as she and her visiting Chinese counterpart exchanged tough words in Berlin on Tuesday but promised to try to find common ground.

China's foreign minister, Qin Gang, was visiting the German capital on the first stop of a European tour that comes amid rising tensions between Chinese and European leaders, particularly over China's friendly relationship with Russia. At a news conference after the two met, Mr. Qin and Ms. Baerbock aired their differences on international policy, particularly in relation to Russia's invasion.

Ms. Baerbock used Russia's Victory Day celebration of the Soviet victory against the Nazis in World War II to argue that Russia was exploiting and undermining its historic role by continuing its war in Ukraine. She said China could play a special role in resolving the conflict.

"China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, can play a significant role in ending the war if it chooses to do so," she said. China has refused to condemn Russia's invasion while also promising not to help Russia militarily.

Ms. Baerbock and Mr. Qin had an even sharper exchange just a few weeks earlier in Beijing, during the German foreign minister's first official visit there. In Berlin, the two sides insisted their meetings highlighted their commitment to overcoming their differences.

Germany and China are scheduled next month to hold bilateral government talks on issues such as climate policy and trade. Mr. Qin said his visit was in preparation for those meetings.

At the news conference, Ms. Baerbock warned that European sanctions against Russia should "not be undermined in a roundabout way." The European Union's plans for an 11th round of sanctions, she said, included looking into measures that would target so-called dual-use goods, which have civilian purposes but could also be used militarily. Some countries, including China, have continued to supply Russia with dual-use goods, like microchips.

"This is not directed against any specific country, but relates specifically to these sanctioned goods," Ms. Baerbock said. "But we expect all countries, and we also expect China, to exert appropriate influence on its companies in this sense."

Mr. Qin responded to questions on Ukraine by saying that "simplification and emotionalization are not the solution."

"China also did not cause this war, is not a party, but it is committed to peace negotiations," he said. In recent months, China's leader, Xi Jinping, has been trying to burnish his image as a global statesman, but U.S. officials and their allies have questioned whether Mr. Xi has the ability to help mediate for peace in Ukraine

Mr. Qin said that China had its own legislation around dual-use goods and warned of retaliation against outside sanctions. He said there were "normal exchanges" between Chinese and Russian companies that should not be disturbed, adding that China would respond "strictly and severely" to attempts to do so.

He also warned Berlin and other European nations not to be dragged into a new "Cold War" bloc, in an apparent reference to calls in the United States for de-coupling from the Chinese economy and a corresponding debate in Europe over maintaining ties but "de-risking" trade relations with Beijing.

Mr. Qin's European trip will also take him to France and Norway. The visit to Germany was a last-minute surprise, announced only a day in advance. Around the same time, Beijing requested to delay a visit from Germany's finance minister, Christian Lindner, raising the question of whether the move was a reaction to a tougher line on China by his pro-business party, the Free Democrats.

Anushka Patil

Protesters in Warsaw blocked the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, from laying a Victory Day wreath at a memorial for Soviet soldiers killed in World War II on Tuesday. The ambassador was splashed with red liquid in the same place a year ago by protesters chanting "fascist!"

Matina Stevis-Gridneff

In a symbolic move on a day marking European unity, the European Union's top official spent Tuesday in Kyiv, where she laid out elements of a new round of sanctions against Russia and its network, and encouraged Ukraine to stay the course of overhauls to eventually join the European Union.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said that her staff had prepared proposals for a new sanctions package that would focus on punishing those who circumvent E.U. bans on exports and transactions against Russia or who help Russia get around them.

Ms. von der Leyen's visit came as much of the bloc celebrates Europe Day, which commemorates the inception of the European integration project.

"The ninth of May is a day to celebrate peace and unity in Europe, to remember the lessons of our history and to commit to live a better future for the next generations," Ms. von der Leyen said. "So it is very fitting to be here in Kyiv to commemorate and to celebrate the ninth of May."

The New York Times reported that the European Union and the United States were working together to track millions of dollars’ worth of exports to Russia through countries such as Armenia and Kazakhstan. That includes E.U.- or U.S.-made chips that are winding up in Russian missiles found in Ukraine's battlefields.

Ms. von der Leyen said that the bloc should have the option to ban the export of certain sensitive goods, and would adopt sanctions against anyone, including non-Russian companies, helping Russia gain access to items it needs for its war effort.

"We proposed to ban shadow entities from Russia and third countries that were intentionally circumventing our sanctions," she said at a news conference held in Kyiv alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

Two diplomats with knowledge of the proposals said that the commission, which is drafting the sanctions, had included in their proposals several Chinese firms, some of which are already under sanctions by the United States, a move that would most likely further strain Europe's relations with Beijing.

E.U. ambassadors plan to hold their first talks on the commission's sanctions proposals on Wednesday and would need to unanimously agree to adopt them, a process that could take some time and end up watering down the proposed policies.

Ms. von der Leyen also said that Ukraine's path to membership in the European Union would reach a milestone in October, when her staff presents a written report on Kyiv's progress on overhauls necessary to join the bloc.

"It is impressive to see that despite a full-blown war, Ukraine is working hard, tirelessly and intensively" to meet the accession targets that the bloc has set, Ms. von der Leyen said. "A lot of progress has been made. But work has to continue."

The two leaders also agreed to jointly monitor a set of policies the European Union has put in place to allow Ukrainian grain to be exported to the bloc without tariffs. The policies backfired in some places, flooding countries such as Poland with cheap Ukrainian grain and setting off political crises because of the effect on local farmers.

The commission recently put in place measures to counter the unexpected consequences of the policy, including granting more than $100 million in aid for farmers in neighboring E.U. countries where crop prices had collapsed.

Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Ukraine's grain exports have dipped significantly ahead of a May 18 deadline imposed by Russia on a deal that allows Ukraine to use Black Sea shipping lanes, according to data from the United Nations.

The exports fell by 29 percent in April compared with the previous month, to just under 2.8 million metric tonnes, or three million tons, and are on course to fall again in May, the U.N. data showed. Inspections in Turkey of empty cargo ships heading in and out of Ukraine have also slowed, which could partly explain the lower export rate, the United Nations said.

The inspections are part of the U.N.-brokered shipping agreement and intended to meet a key Russian demand to ensure that ships traveling to Ukraine are not carrying weapons. On Sunday and Monday, there were no inspections at all, the United Nations said in a statement, without elaborating. Russia has previously suspended its participation in inspections for brief periods, although it has not announced any suspension this time.

The shipping deal reached in July has been a rare example of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv, allowing Ukraine, a major exporter of grain and other food crops, to revive shipments that stalled when Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than 14 months ago. When the agreement was first signed, U.N. officials said it would help alleviate hunger faced by millions of people.

But Moscow has repeatedly said it might not renew its participation, raising the prospect of a renewed maritime blockade of Ukraine that would have potentially severe consequences for global grain prices.

Moscow has complained that obstacles remain to getting its own agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets, as the deal allows. In March, it agreed to extend the deal by 60 days, less than the 120 days sought by Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations. On previous occasions, Moscow has said it might not agree to an extension, only to do so after talks.

On Tuesday, Turkey's Defense Ministry said that it would host talks among Russian, Ukrainian and U.N. representatives on the deal on Wednesday and Thursday in Istanbul.

Ukraine has also exported food products across its land borders with Poland and other European Union countries, but these routes have proved less efficient and have also led to protests by farmers angry over the shipments’ effect on domestic markets.

Ivan Nechepurenko

The annual Victory Day parade in Moscow has traditionally been a vast spectacle showcasing Russia's military might, with state-of-the-art tanks rolling in symmetrical formation over the cobblestones of Red Square becoming an iconic image.

This year, however, much was missing. For the first time in years, only one Soviet-era T-34 tank — a symbol of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany — crossed the square on Tuesday, leading a much shorter-than-usual line of armored vehicles, air defense systems and intercontinental missile launchers. There were fewer troops marching in carefully choreographed arrangements, and there was no flyover from the air force.

The pared-down parade appeared to reflect Russia's struggles to equip its troops fighting in Ukraine, especially at a time when Kyiv is making preparations for an expected counteroffensive that would aim to pierce through Moscow's fortified defensive lines.

It may have also been a response to criticism from some pro-invasion activists and bloggers, who have questioned the necessity of a large-scale symbolic demonstration of military equipment at a time when many Russian military divisions lack necessary weapons and supplies.

Officials across Russia also scaled back annual celebrations of the country's most important national holiday, with more than 20 cities forgoing military parades and organizers calling off a popular nationwide march to honor veterans. Security concerns were most often cited for the cancellations, but some analysts also suggested that the unease had as much to do with fears about domestic disturbances.

A year ago, when Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was already raging, Red Square was nonetheless humming with the sounds of the engines of advanced tanks, together with rocket launchers and artillery systems that had been used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

This year, though, there were only a few dozen pieces of equipment, and the part of the procession that featured armored vehicles appeared to be around half as long as it was in 2022. The overall live footage of the parade was also shorter than in the previous years and it wasn't shot from the air, because drones were prohibited from flying over Moscow after a recent apparent attack on President Vladimir V. Putin's office building at the Kremlin last week.

The annual air show was canceled altogether this year, with no explanation given. It was also canceled last year, ostensibly because of the weather. The parade featured 30 formations of troops, as opposed to 33 last year, and included 530 servicemen who had been fighting in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

For some in Russia that was a relief. Aleksandr Kots, a journalist who writes for the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, said that he was afraid that "people will be pulled from the front lines to take part in the parade."

"This year, everything was done tactfully," he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

For others, like Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military company, who has complained of a chronic lack of ammunition supplies for Wagner fighters trying to capture the beleaguered eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the parade was an unnecessary example of showmanship.

"In our country, everyone believes that everything can be done on television, including a Victory Day celebration," Mr. Prigozhin said in a statement on Tuesday. "This was the victory of our fathers and we haven't deserved it."

Anatoly Kurmanaev, Ivan Nechepurenko and Oleg Matsnev

In his annual Victory Day speech on Russia's main patriotic holiday on Tuesday, President Vladimir V. Putin largely repeated his usual grievances against Ukraine and its Western allies, accusing them of "pursuing the dissolution and the destruction of our country."

But his forceful tone — and explicit comparisons between the invasion of Ukraine and World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War — were likely to carry particular symbolism during what is a deeply emotive event for many Russians.

In a roughly 10-minute address in Moscow's Red Square on Victory Day, which commemorates the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, Mr. Putin portrayed his war in Ukraine as a "sacred" struggle for the survival of the Russian state, signaling a willingness to continue the drawn-out conflict.

"A real war has been unleashed against our motherland again," Mr. Putin said. "Battles that decide the fate of our motherland have always become all-encompassing, patriotic and sacred."

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Mr. Putin has usually referred to it as a "special military operation." Although this was not the first time he has called the conflict a "war," the setting gave the acknowledgment added weight.

The rhetorical echoes of Russia's all-encompassing, uncompromising struggle in World War II also marked a change from Mr. Putin's initial justification of the Ukraine invasion, which he had said would be a limited, pre-emptive strike to neutralize what he falsely called a Nazi-controlled government in Kyiv.

Mr. Putin also used the Victory Day commemorations to present an image of international support for his invasion of Ukraine amid tightening Western sanctions against Russia. He greeted the presidents of seven former Soviet republics who had traveled to Moscow for the event, saying that their nations had "fought together and won together" with Russia in World War II.

He also mentioned Russia's most important international partner, China, praising its fight against "Japanese militarism" in World War II.

Christopher F. Schuetze

In a speech celebrating Europe Day, Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, renewed calls for expansion of the European Union and changes to make it more unified and reiterated his commitment to support the Ukrainian war effort.

"Europe's future is in our hands," he told E.U. lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, on the 73rd anniversary of a key moment in European unification, and a counterpoint to Russia's Victory Day events in Moscow.

While Mr. Scholz used his speech to focus on reforms intended to make the bloc more united in an increasingly polarized world, he frequently referred to the war and what he described as Russia's new imperialistic ambitions. He said the future did not belong to those who were nostalgic for the past, adding, "and it certainly does not belong to the revisionists who dream of national glory or crave imperial power" — a clear reference to Russia's leadership.

Mr. Scholz used much of his speech to repeat calls for overhauls that he had presented in a major speech he gave in Prague last year. Among them are plans for better coordination in the production of weapons and ammunition — to supply Ukraine as well as to bolster the bloc's own security — and to better integrate some defenses, such as air defense.

"War between our peoples has become unimaginable, thanks to the European Union and to the happiness of us all," he said. But he added: "This dream is not the reality for all European countries."

He also discussed E.U. expansion and noted that Ukraine was one of the countries that is a candidate to join, although he did not give a timeline for when that could happen.

Europe Day, which the European Union says "celebrates peace and unity in Europe," commemorates the date in 1950 when Robert Schuman, a former foreign minister of France, proposed the creation of a coal and steel union among six European nations, considered a forerunner to the present-day European Union.

Dan Bilefsky, Anton Troianovski and Neil MacFarquhar

Victory Day, celebrating the Soviet Union's vanquishing of Nazi Germany in 1945, is Russia's most important secular holiday, although it is toned down this year as the war in Ukraine drags on.

More than 20 cities, some thousands of miles from the battle lines, said they would forgo military parades, and organizers canceled a popular nationwide march honoring veterans.

Here's a look at the significance the holiday has taken on during President Vladimir V. Putin's two decades in power.

Mr. Putin has helped transform Victory Day — meant to honor the 27 million Soviets who died in World War II — into one of the most important holidays on the Russian calendar, a nostalgic ritual that buttresses national pride and unifies a sometimes divided society.

Mr. Putin has long used his Victory Day speech to disparage the West and forge unity around Russian military power. Last year, weeks after invading Ukraine, he did not explicitly warn of an existential battle with the West — a theme he revived a few months later — but sought to reassure the Russian people that their lives would go on as normal.

This year, the holiday is taking place at a critical juncture of the war, amid mounting anxiety after a series of attacks inside Russia's borders and with fighting intensifying in advance of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The country's biggest parade, which takes place outside the Kremlin on Red Square, is usually a display of raw military might, with row upon row of carefully choreographed soldiers marching amid weapons ranging from vintage tanks to intercontinental ballistic missiles. But this year, there was only one old Soviet tank in the procession, and no modern ones.

Many local parades were canceled, and perhaps the most striking change was the decision to call off the nationwide Immortal Regiment march, in which ordinary Russian citizens take to the streets to display pictures of their veteran forebears.

Some analysts have suggested that the Kremlin might be nervous about putting crowds of Russians on the streets at such an uneasy time, even with Russia's draconian wartime laws against protests.

Analysts said that Russian officials could have been worried that thousands of people would show up with pictures of those newly killed in the war, revealing the extent of a toll that the government has tried to conceal.

The Kremlin has cast the war as a continuation of Russia's fight against evil in World War II, which is known in the country as the Great Patriotic War, and on Tuesday Mr. Putin directly made that connection again, portraying the invasion of Ukraine as a "sacred" struggle for the survival of the Russian state.

In the past, Mr. Putin has variously called Ukraine's government "openly neo-Nazi," "pro-Nazi" and controlled by "little Nazis." The sudden emergence of accusations of Nazism shows how Mr. Putin is trying to use stereotypes, distorted reality and his country's lingering World War II trauma to justify the invasion.

That language has been a persistent element of Russian messaging, even though Ukraine is led by a president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, and last fall enacted a law intended to combat antisemitism.

Jeffrey Gettleman

A new sound wafts through the open windows at night in this town near the front line: children hollering at one another down the block, even long after dark.

The markets are full. Sales are surging at the local bike shop. Red tulips, planted by hand, are bursting open everywhere.

It is remarkable — "Unrecognizable," one city official said — how different this small town in eastern Ukraine feels from a year ago. Last summer, Pokrovsk was a spooky landscape of boarded up houses and bushy yards. No one was around. Now, it's hard to take a few steps without passing someone on the sidewalk.

Nothing has changed outside Pokrovsk. The front line is still 30 miles away. Ukrainians are still dying in droves. One of the biggest armies in the world, that of the Russian Federation, is still bombing cities while they sleep and trying to take as much territory as it can, at a terrifying cost.

But what has changed — and it reflects something broader happening in small towns across this vast country — are people's calculations. How much danger are they willing to accept? What is the best for them and their families? How should they accommodate the war on a daily basis? The answers to these questions seem different this year, and without consulting one another, many people have reached the same decision.

It is resilience, yes, but perhaps also something a little less shiny: resignation.

"The war is here," said Dr. Natalia Medvedieva, a family doctor who tried living in a safer place in western Ukraine with her son but came back here a few months later. "There is no safe place in Ukraine. So you might as well get on with it."

And home is home.

Ivan Nechepurenko

Just one tank was present on Red Square for this year's Victory Day commemorations — an old Soviet T-34 — with no modern tanks on display.

Ivan Nechepurenko

Together with leaders of six other former Soviet republics, Mr. Putin walked down to the Alexander Gardens to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial dedicated to Soviet troops killed in World War II.

Ivan Nechepurenko

The troops have emptied out of Red Square to make way for the parading of heavy-duty equipment, including the T-34 tanks used against Nazi Germany. But this year's parade has featured less heavy equipment than years past.

Ivan Nechepurenko

Russian forces rolled out air defense systems, antiballistic missile systems and armored vehicles on Tuesday. But there were no advanced tanks and other equipment. There were also no fighter jets or military airplanes flying over Moscow.

Anatoly Kurmanaev

President Vladimir Putin has ended his speech after barely speaking for 10 minutes.

Ivan Nechepurenko

Just minutes into the parade, Russian state television makes mention of the war in Ukraine, equating it, falsely, with the fight against the Nazis, which Victory Day commemorates.

Anatoly Kurmanaev

President Vladimir V. Putin has started speaking at the Victory Day celebration.

Anatoly Kurmanaev

Speaking in Red Square, Putin starts in a defiant, militant tone, saying 78 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, Russia, and the world, are once against under threat.

Ivan Nechepurenko

While the parade has been widely celebrated by Russians as a demonstration of the country's military might, some have questioned whether it was necessary to hold it at a time when many Russian formations on the front lines lack enough military equipment.

Anatoly Kurmanaev, Neil MacFarquhar and Oleg Matsnev

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is scheduled to address his nation on Tuesday during a celebration of the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II, a closely watched event that could test his government's ability to stoke patriotic fervor while maintaining a sense of stability more than a year into Russia's bogged-down invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Putin is scheduled to speak during a military parade in Moscow's Red Square, which will begin at 10 a.m. local time and is expected to feature typical symbols of Russia's military might, including tanks, missiles and rows of marching soldiers. The parade will be followed by fireworks on Tuesday night.

Russian state news media said at least six other heads of state would attend the parade, all of them representing former Soviet republics that fought against Germany and its allies in World War II: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Over the years, Mr. Putin has cast the May 9 celebrations not just as the remembrance of a historic victory but as a symbol of defiance toward Western forces he says are trying to destroy Russia. More recently, he has tried to wrap Ukraine into that narrative, falsely depicting it as a Nazi redoubt.

Mr. Putin has a track record of choosing his own time and place for broad policy statements, but many in Russia will be looking at his speech on Tuesday for signs of national direction as war-related violence is reaching even the most poignant symbols of state power.

The spate of attacks — which just in the past week have included two explosions over the Kremlin that Russia said involved Ukrainian drones and an assassination attempt against a prominent Russian nationalist — contributed to decisions by more than 20 Russian cities to cancel their own parades.

Some officials have framed the cancellation of local parades on the most patriotic day of the Russian calender as an act of solidarity with frontline soldiers or of concern for the safety of ordinary citizens, citing the risk that large gatherings could be a target.

But the number of the cancellations — including in Siberian cities thousands of miles from Ukraine — are a sign of the unease wrought by a grinding war that Mr. Putin long framed as a limited "special military operation."

The Red Square parade presents the Kremlin with an opportunity to dispel such anxieties with a show of defiance and strength.

The parade is likely to be subjected to closer scrutiny than usual, both inside Russia and beyond its borders. Exactly what military equipment participates will be a point of interest. Will there be Russia's usual display of tanks, which have been decimated by the fighting in Ukraine? And what about the air force?

One of the most dramatic moments of typical May 9 celebrations is a flyover involving dozens of aircraft, which sweep as low as 150 meters above Red Square, trailing smoke in the colors of the Russian flag. This year, the jets have skipped their usual practice runs over Moscow, raising questions about whether they will participate.

In some ways, Tuesday's celebrations are already deviating from long established ritual, exposing the limitations of the Kremlin's efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy during a war that is estimated to have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers.

This year's commemorations will not feature the usual procession of the so-called Immortal Regiment, during which ordinary citizens take to the streets of Russian cities with pictures of their veteran forebears. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the march was canceled as a "precautionary measure" against possible attacks.

But some analysts suggested that the Kremlin might be nervous that big crowds at such an uneasy time could have unexpected consequences, potentially in the form of citizens highlighting the recent deaths of family members in the war in Ukraine.

Anatoly Kurmanaev

Russia has started its main annual patriotic event, a military parade in Moscow's Red Square to commemorate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Anatoly Kurmanaev

The parade, televised nationally, could test the Kremlin's ability to stoke patriotic fervor while maintaining a sense of stability more than a year into Russia's bogged-down invasion of Ukraine.

Anatoly Kurmanaev

President Vladimir Putin is expected to address the nation during the ceremonies. Six other heads of former Soviet republics are also present at the parade.

Victoria Kim

Loud explosions rang out over Kyiv early Tuesday as Ukrainian air defenses intercepted cruise missiles headed for the capital, a day after the city was targeted with an enormous drone attack, local officials said.

It was the fifth large-scale aerial attack aimed at the city this month, said Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration. He said the missiles were fired from four strategic bombers from near the Caspian Sea. About 18 "air targets" were intercepted in the airspace over Kyiv, he said. Russia fired at least another seven at targets across Ukraine, the Air Force said, with most being shot down.

Debris from a missile that was shot down Tuesday morning, which left a streak of dark smoke across the cloudy dawn sky, landed in the yard of a house and sparked a fire, the city military administration said. There were no casualties or damage, said Vitali Klitschko, the city's mayor.

Monday's onslaught of nearly three dozen drones, all of which were shot down, was the largest drone attack of the war on the city, Mr. Klitschko said. That attack, Mr. Popko said, had been aimed at exhausting the city's air defenses.

The Ukrainian military cautioned that additional airstrikes remained likely to occur during the day on Tuesday, as Russia commemorates the annual Victory Day holiday celebrating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany. Officials urged civilians to heed air raid sirens.

Ukraine's air defenses have become increasingly successful at shooting down cruise missiles and drones, managing to destroy 70 percent to 80 percent of them in the air. But the ones that get through can still inflict serious damage and large-scale deaths.

Over the weekend, Ukraine's military said it had successfully intercepted a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile last week with an American-supplied Patriot air-defense missile. That appeared to be the first sign that Ukraine now had the ability to thwart one of the most prized and sophisticated weapons in Moscow's arsenal.

Marc Santora

Shortly after the last Russian missile was destroyed above Kyiv on Tuesday morning, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived in the capital. "Good to be back in Kyiv," she wrote on Twitter. "Where the values we hold dear are defended everyday."

Erika Solomon

BERLIN — In the shadow of Berlin's glass-domed Reichstag, beyond the sandstone columns of Brandenburg Gate, German parliamentary buildings sit cheek by jowl with Russia's sprawling, Stalinist-style diplomatic mission. For years, a silent espionage struggle played out here along the city's iconic Unter den Linden avenue.

Members of Parliament were warned by intelligence offices to protect themselves — to turn computer screens away from the window, stop using wireless devices that were easier to tap, and close the window blinds for meetings.

It seems an almost comical situation for officials in one of Europe's most powerful nations, where tensions over Russian espionage were something Germany's government long seemed willing to ignore.

That has become increasingly difficult since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as a Cold War-era style chill settles across the continent and recasts relations with Russia.

Late last month, Russia exposed what it described as a "mass expulsion" of its diplomats in Germany when it announced a tit-for-tat expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats from Moscow. It was a rare sign, security analysts say, of a subdued but growing counterintelligence effort that Berlin is now belatedly undertaking, after years of increasingly brazen Russian intelligence operations on German soil.

Christopher Mele

Ukraine complained on Monday that Russia was holding up shipments of grain from its Black Sea ports, the latest signal of Russia's resistance to an agreement it signed onto last year and which is set to expire next week.

Ukraine's Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure said in a statement that Russia was refusing to register vessels and conduct inspections as part of the arrangement, the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Often simply referred to as "the grain deal," the initiative was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, and allowed the resumption of some exports of Ukraine's vast agricultural production to reach international markets and avert the worsening of global hunger.

That agreement is scheduled to end on May 18. Negotiators have been trying to reach a deal to extend the pact, which was accompanied by assurances that Russia would also be able to export its agricultural products, despite its financial system being under international sanctions related to its invasion of Ukraine. Russia has complained that its exports remain impeded.

The U.N. said on Monday that the Joint Coordination Center that facilitates the agreement had not conducted inspections on ships going in or out of Ukraine on Sunday or Monday. The Ukrainian ministry said that Russia's conduct "completely contradicts the conditions of the current agreement."

As of Friday, the center had not reached an agreement to authorize new vessels to participate in the exports, according to the U.N. Inspections of previously authorized vessels were continuing, the U.N. said at the time.

Last month, the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, proposed an extension and expansion of the grain deal in a letter to Russia's president, Vladimir V. Putin, according to a summary of a meeting between Mr. Guterres and Russia's foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov. Details of the proposal were not disclosed.

A deputy Russian foreign minister, Sergey Vershinin, has said that a renewal of the grain agreement would hinge on, among other things, improvements in Russian agricultural exports.

The initial grain deal, which was reached in July, is a rare example of wartime cooperation between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world's largest agricultural exporters. It has been extended twice.

More than 29 million metric tons of grain and food products have been exported as a result of the agreement, including more than 595,000 metric tons of grain shipped under the World Food Program to support humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen, according to the U.N.