Military parade “sullied”?
Russian regiment runs on Mexican parade
September 17, 2023, 7:56 p.m
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Mexico’s left-wing nationalist head of state López Obrador condemns Russia’s attack on Ukraine. But the Russian Preobrazhensky Regiment is allowed to take part in a military parade in Mexico City. There is criticism from Mexican opposition members and from Ukraine.
In view of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the participation of Russian soldiers in the Independence Day military parade in Mexico has met with criticism in the Latin American country. “In doing so, he made it clear that dictators and not democrats were his friends,” wrote the presidential candidate of the opposition, Xóchitl Gálvez, about the invitation of Russian soldiers by the government of populist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on the news platform X, formerly Twitter.
The Russian Embassy in Mexico Meanwhile, shared a picture of the regiment’s ceremonial march in Moscow City via X and wrote, among other things, “Long live Mexico!” and “Long live the friendship between Mexico and Russia!”.
Influential Mexican journalist Léon Krauze strongly criticized his government for allowing the Russian regiment to take part in the parade: “Today the government has tainted the celebratory Independence Day parade with an escort from Russia, a country that invades a sovereign nation committed heinous war crimes, abducted and raped children and bombed civilians. This is an outrageous disgrace.”
Ukrainian ambassador reacts
On the occasion of the 213th anniversary of the beginning of the War of Independence in Mexico, numerous soldiers marched through the center of Mexico City on Saturday, including units from other countries. The 154th Preobrazhensky Regiment was there from Russia, the predecessor of which had been founded by Tsar Peter the Great in the 17th century. Mexico’s left-wing nationalist head of state López Obrador has condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, but has held back from clear criticism of Moscow.
The Ukrainian side also condemned the participation of Russian soldiers in the parade. “The military parade in Mexico City was tainted by the participation of a Russian regiment: their boots and the hands of war criminals are stained with blood,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Mexico Oksana Dramaretska wrote on X.