Ukraine says Russia planning WWII parade in Mariupol

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of planning to maintain a navy parade inside the captured town of Mariupol on May 9 to have a good time victory over the Nazis in World War II.

Kyiv said a legitimate from Russia’s presidential management had arrived in the strategic southern port city, which has been largely destroyed in Russia’s extra than the 2-month invasion of Ukraine, to oversee plans for the Victory Day parade.

“Mariupol will become a centre of ‘celebration’,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said in a statement on social media.

“The central streets of the city are urgently being cleaned of debris, bodies and unexploded ordnance.”

Mariupol is one of the most battered cities in Ukraine. A group of Ukrainian forces are still holding out in its Azovstal steel plant.

“A large-scale propaganda campaign is underway. Russians will be shown stories about the ‘joy’ of locals on meeting the occupiers,” it said.

Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko later told Ukrainian television there were ongoing “works” in the city as if the Russians were preparing for something.

“They are removing signs of the crimes they have committed,” he said.

The Ukrainian military on Tuesday said Russian troops had launched an offensive to rout troops inside Azovstal shortly after the United Nations and Red Cross confirmed the evacuation of more than 100 civilians from the site.

The Kremlin denied Russia was storming the plant on Wednesday, but Boichenko said there was “heavy fighting” there and that city officials had “lost contact” with the troops inside with no way of knowing “what’s going on, whether they are safe or not”.

In a briefing on the army’s plan for May 9, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made no mention of a celebratory march in Mariupol.

He said parades might take location in 28 towns, concerning a few 65,000 human beings, 2,400 portions of army hardware and greater than 400 planes.

Russians have a good time on Victory Day every 12 months on May 9 with army parades and public occasions commemorating the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Moscow has stated the goal of its huge invasion became to “de-militarise” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine.