Ukraine urges countries not to whitewash Russian war crimes by participating in Moscow’s May 9 military parade
As Ukraine prepares to commemorate the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Russia’s attempts to use the May 9 parade in Moscow to “whitewash its war crimes,” urging all countries—especially those claiming neutrality—to boycott the military event.
On May 8, Ukraine, along with the rest of Europe and the world, will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism.
“We cherish the memory of the World War ІІ, which scorched every Ukrainian family. The front swept across our territory twice, and the total human losses of the Ukrainian people amounted to eight million dead: 5 million civilians and 3 million soldiers,” Ukrainian diplomats pointed out.
More than six million Ukrainians fought in the Red Army, and hundreds of thousands fought in resistance movements and the armies of the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The MFA of Ukraine highlighted that Russia’s “brutal and unprovoked war of aggression is being waged against the Ukrainian people, who are one of the nations that defeated Nazism and paid a terrible price for peace and freedom in Europe”.
In the course of this aggression, Russian soldiers have committed hundreds of thousands of war crimes, killed 620 Ukrainian children and wounded almost 2,000, and deported at least 20,000.
“Executions of civilians, mass graves, rape, looting, detention of civilian hostages, torture and execution of prisoners of war, use of indiscriminate weapons, strikes on densely populated residential areas, energy, and civilian infrastructure. The Russian army has committed and continues to commit atrocities in Ukraine on a scale that Europe has not seen since World War II. This is the army that will march on Red Square in Moscow on May 9,” the statement declares.
The MFA emphasized that these people in Moscow are not liberators of Europe, they are occupants and war criminals.
“To march side by side with them is to share responsibility for the blood of murdered Ukrainian children, civilian and military, not to honor the victory over Nazism. Russia invites foreign military personnel to participate in the May 9 parade in order to whitewash its war crimes and justify its aggression,” the statement continues.
The Ukrainian diplomats consider the participation of foreign military personnel in this event unacceptable and will regard it as an “outrage against the memory of the victory over Nazism, the memory of millions of Ukrainian front-line soldiers who liberated our country and the whole of Europe from Nazism” eight decades ago.
The MFA urged all foreign countries to refrain from sending their military personnel to the May 9 parade in Moscow. This especially applies to countries that declare neutrality in relation to Russian aggression against Ukraine or consistently take a neutral position in international relations.
“The participation of the military of such countries in the joint parade will directly violate such declared neutrality and look like support for the aggressor state,” the statement reads.
Ukrainian diplomats called on all foreign states and international organizations to honor the victims of World War II and the collective victory over Nazism with dignity, which does not justify Russian aggression and atrocities against Ukrainians.
By way of background, on May 2, 2025, the InformNapalm international intelligence community, citing intelligence agency sources, reported that Russian special services have received orders to organise terrorist attacks in several Russian regions during May 9 celebrations, aiming to blame Ukraine and mobilise public support for the war. ZMINA cannot independently verify this information.
