LONDON, LINews – Russian President Vladimir Putin will send a ‘doomsday’ warning to Western countries on Victory Day on May 9. The date marks the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the warning would be marked with a fly past of supersonic fighter jets, Tu-160 strategic bombers, and for the first time since 2010 a command center plane dubbed the ‘doomsday’ Il-80 that would take Russia’s leader in the event of a nuclear war.
The planes will fly over St Basil’s Cathedral.
The Il-80 was designed to be a command center for the Russian president in conditions of nuclear war. The plane is equipped with advanced technology, including being able to protect the people on board from radiation. But Russia has never revealed the specifications.
Putin has repeatedly likened the war in Ukraine to the challenges the Soviet Union faced against Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1941.
“Attempts to appease the aggressor on the eve of the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a mistake against our people. We will not do the same a second time,” said Putin, announcing a special military operation to Ukraine on February 24.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War II, more than any other country. (*)
