In D-Day Speech, Biden Celebrates Deaths of Russian Soldiers in Ukraine

President Biden celebrated the deaths of Russian soldiers in Ukraine during a speech in Normandy, France, commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

“They’ve suffered tremendous losses, Russia. The numbers are staggering — 350,000 Russian troops dead or wounded. Nearly 1 million people have left Russia because they can no longer see a future in Russia,” Biden said.

The real number of dead or wounded troops in the Ukraine war is unclear since neither side shares information about casualties. But it’s likely Ukraine has suffered more casualties since the conflict is largely an artillery war, and Ukrainian forces have been significantly outgunned.

Russian officials were not invited to the D-Day commemoration despite the Soviet Union being an ally of the US and France during World War II and suffering tens of millions of deaths. Biden used the event to rally support for NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine and slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “tyrant.”

“We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago.  They never fade,” Biden said. “Here, in Europe, we see one stark example.  Ukraine has been invaded by a tyrant bent on domination.”

Biden also declared that NATO was the “greatest military alliance in the history of the world” and framed the proxy war in Ukraine as a battle for “democracy” despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceling elections and remaining in power after his term ended.

“Let us be the generation that when history is written about our time — in 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 years from now — it will be said: When the moment came, we met the moment. We stood strong.  Our alliances were made stronger. And we saved democracy in our time as well,” Biden said.

Biden’s speech came about a week after he gave Ukraine the green light to use US-provided missiles to strike Russian territory, a significant escalation that risks sparking World War III. Putin has warned of “serious consequences” for NATO countries that support strikes on Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing another major escalation of the proxy war. According to a report from Reuters, the French president is holding a meeting with Zelensky on Friday and could announce a deployment of French troops to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers. Russia has warned that any French trainers in Ukraine would be legitimate targets.

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.