Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that his army is fighting in Ukraine to defend the "motherland" against an "unacceptable threat" posed by the neighboring Western-backed country.
"I turn to our armed forces, you are fighting for the motherland, for its future," Putin said in a speech from Red Square in front of thousands of soldiers participating in the military parade marking the anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in 1945. The horrors of a new all-out war will not be repeated."