Putin accuses US of trying to dominate the world

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of attempting to dominate the world. Speaking at Moscow’s annual Victory Day parade in Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, Putin warned that “in recent decades, the principles of international co-operation have been ignored ever more frequently”.

While he thanked "the people of Great Britain, France and the United States for their contribution to victory", Putin warned that “a military-bloc mentality is gaining momentum”.

US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande all boycotted the festivities, in protest over Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis and their annexation of the Crimea peninsula.

German chancellor Angela Merkel also avoided the parade but she will fly to Moscow on Sunday to meet Putin and to lay a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

Chinese president Xi Jinping was the most high-profile guest on the podium next to Putin. Other presidents in attendance included India’s Pranab Mukherjee, Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt, Cuba’s Raúl Castro, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma.

Russia used the festivities to display its latest military technology – including the Armata tank – in a parade that included 16,000 troops and a long convoy of weapons dating from the second world war to the present day.

In a sign of closer ties between Russia and China, a column of Chinese troops marched in Moscow for the first time. Also on show for the first time was a RS-24 Yars ICBM launcher, which Moscow has said described as a response to US and Nato anti-missile systems.

The Soviet Union lost around 27 million soldiers and civilians – more than any other country – during the Second World War, described by Russia as the “great patriotic war”. The Red Army’s triumph remains an enormous source of national pride.  Over 70% of Russians claim to have lost a close family member during the war, making Victory Day an emotional symbol of national unity.

Military parades on a smaller scale were also held in other cities, including Sevastopol in Crimea and the Ukrainian rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At a wreath-laying ceremony in Kiev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned Russia's recent portrayal of his government as fascist.

"Obviously this is done with one aim alone - to justify... the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Poroshenko said.