Zelensky marks Victory Day with defiant speech and sharp rebuke for Russia’s ‘parade of cynicism’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked Ukraine’s Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism on 8 May with a powerful address, drawing a stark contrast between Ukraine’s commemoration and Russia’s militarised pageantry.

Walking down Khreshchatyk, Kyiv’s main boulevard, Zelensky recalled the haunting silence of 24 February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. “Three years ago, on the morning of the invasion, Khreshchatyk was empty — no cars, no people. Today, there is life. That is the only parade evil deserves here: the wreckage of its own destruction.”

Zelensky condemned what he called Russia’s attempt to “appropriate Ukraine and distort history,” accusing the Kremlin of twisting the legacy of World War II for propaganda purposes. Nor did he mince words on the Victory Day parade planned in Moscow on Friday: “Tomorrow, the organiser of the mass graves in Bucha will speak of Nazi atrocities. The architects of the Mariupol siege will invoke the siege of Leningrad. It will be a parade of cynicism, bile, and lies.”

Reiterating Ukraine’s historical contribution to the defeat of Nazism, Zelensky noted that over eight million Ukrainians fought in World War II across multiple fronts — in the Red Army, Allied forces and resistance movements.

Wreath-laying ceremonies were also held across the country to commemorate the victims of World War II. Zelensky paid tribute at a memorial on Independence Square honouring those killed in the current war. “This is not a monument built by decree,” he said, “but a place born of human need — to honour the best of us.”

Ukraine officially shifted its commemoration of the Second World War to 8 May in 2023, rejecting the Soviet-era 9 May holiday still celebrated in Russia. The red poppy, long a symbol of remembrance in the West, has replaced Soviet symbols as Ukraine’s national emblem of wartime memory.

In closing, Zelensky warned that peace will only be possible if Russia undergoes radical change — or if the world takes collective action. “Appeasing evil is impossible. It must be fought — with strength, with pressure, on the battlefield, in diplomacy, and economically. To make ‘never again’ real, the world may have to denazify and demilitarise Russia.”

Meanwhile, Russia continues its preparations for its Victory Day parade on 9 May despite drone threats in recent days, imposing airspace restrictions and deploying extensive air defence systems to guard the capital.

The parade is an important propaganda stunt for Putin, who invited nearly 30 foreign dignitaries to attend the event, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Meanwhile, Ukraine invited senior EU officials to Kyiv on 9 May to demonstrate solidarity and to offer a counter-narrative to Moscow’s display of power. “We do not surrender our memory to the new Russian Nazism, just as we do not surrender our present,” Zelensky said.