Putin Uses Russia’s Victory Day Parade to Justify Invasion of Ukraine

MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin used the annual commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II as an occasion to voice his justifications for the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine, saying it was the only way to prevent what he said was a planned assault on Russia.

Speaking to the nation from Red Square ahead of the annual military parade here Monday, the Russian leader said Moscow had been forced to act because it believed that a clash with Ukraine, which he says is led by U.S.-backed neo-Nazis, was inevitable.