Two ‘veterans’ sitting next to Putin at May 9 parade were not WWII fighters – media reports

Read also: At last minute, three more heads of state decide to attend Putin's parade

According to journalists, 98-year-old Yuriy Dvoikin, who signed up for the army as a volunteer in 1942, but never got to the front, was sitting to Putin’s right. After graduating from sniper school in 1944, he was sent to Lviv Oblast to fight against Ukrainian nationalists as part of the NKVD (the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs).

Gennady Zaitsev, who was born in 1934 and did not take part in the war, was sitting on Putin’s left. He was called up for military service in 1953, after which he remained in the army and began serving in the KGB (the Soviet Committee for State Security) in 1959.

Read also: Lukashenko unable to walk 300 meters, skips breakfast with Putin in Moscow

Zaitsev took part in the deployment of Soviet troops to Czechoslovakia to suppress anti-Soviet protests. He also led the KGB Directorate’s 7th group in the “Operation Danube.” The Interior Ministry’s building in Prague was captured under his leadership. In the 1970s, Zaitsev headed the Alpha Group, a sub-unit of Russia’s special forces within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

On May 9, Moscow held a bleak and truncated military parade, lasting only 45 minutes, with only 8,000 troops participating – the lowest number in 15 years. Warplane fly-bys were canceled, and only one tank – a WWII relic T-34 – trundled its way across Red Square, in stark contrast to the columns of modern tanks that are the usual centerpieces of Victory Day parades.

The parade was commanded by the head of the Ground Forces, General Oleg Salyukov, and hosted by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who crossed himself before entering the square.

Before the parade began, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin gave a speech, repeating falsehoods about Ukraine and the West, and blaming them for Russia’s own war of aggression.

Read also: Kremlin wants Russians to think big attacks on Ukraine are a ‘victory,’ says Zelenskyy

The leaders of six countries – Armenia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan – as well as the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, showed up to listen to Putin.

We’re bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine