On the eve of Victory Day, as war raged in his country, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had “forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War Two”.

He said the whole free world could see that Ukraine was "the party of good in this war”, adding that Russia would "lose because evil always loses”.

Western leaders also used the occasion of Victory Day to denounce Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who visited Ukraine, told Reuters news agency that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “going against the very values that, so many people fought and died for”.

And leaders of the G7 group said Putin’s actions brought “shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people".