Russian Soldiers Told Ukraine War Must End On May 9, Armed Forces Reveal

Russia wants the war in Ukraine to be over by the time it celebrates its biggest national holiday in early May, the Ukrainian military revealed Thursday.

"According to the available information, among the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, propaganda work is constantly being carried out, which imposes the idea that the war must be completed before the 9th of May, 2022," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement.

No additional information regarding this report was disclosed.

Russia observes Victory Day every year on May 9, which marks the end of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War with Nazi Germany in World War II.

Victory Day is also observed by several former Soviet states such as Belarus, Kazakhstan and even Ukraine, among many others.

The event is Russia's most important national holiday, and a military parade is held in Moscow's iconic Red Square during its celebrations.

Last year's Moscow Victory Day Parade featured over 12,000 troops and more than 190 pieces of military hardware, including several T-34 tanks that comprised the backbone of the Soviet armored forces back in World War II.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 to "denazify" its neighbor, but the current Ukrainian government is not a fascist dictatorship nor is it in any way associated with the Nazis, according to a report by Time.

Moreover, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who won 73% of the votes in Ukraine's democratic elections in 2019, is a Jew.

Zelensky's grandfather fought in the Soviet Army against the Nazis, and his family lost relatives in the Holocaust.

"It’s a classic form of antisemitism to say that the Jews are the Nazis. And that’s what [Putin's] doing," said Timothy Snyder, an expert on Ukraine and author of "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America."

"The purpose of this war is to target a government which is headed by a Jew. So if you call that denazification, what you’re saying is, the Jews are the real Nazis, and we are the real victims. [Putin's] appealing to a certain tradition in antisemitism, which tries to flip around who are the victims and who are the perpetrators…But, as I say, I think his main purpose here is just to pervert these terms and to confuse us," Snyder explained.

Russia's push into Ukraine has since stalled, with the most recent casualty report from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence claiming Russian forces have lost 15,600 personnel between the start of the invasion and Wednesday.