Putin says Russia defending 'Motherland' as Ukraine war rages

President Vladimir Putin on Monday defended Russia's war in Ukraine as necessary to protect the "Motherland" as Moscow flexed its military muscle at a huge parade marking the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Fierce battles raged in eastern Ukraine while Putin made his Victory Day speech against a backdrop of intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbling through Moscow's emblematic Red Square.

Ukrainians and Westerners accused Putin of exploiting the World War II anniversary, with protesters in Warsaw tossing blood-red paint on the Russian ambassador, chanting "fascists!" and hoisting a Ukrainian flag, as he visited a cemetery.

But Putin sought to channel Russian pride for what he has described as a "special military operation" to "deNazify" Ukraine, which is led by an elected Jewish president.

Putin blamed the West and Ukraine for the two-and-a-half-month conflict, telling the parade that Russia faced an "absolutely unacceptable threat" and warning against the "horror of a global war".

"You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War," he said.

The celebration in Red Square also featured some 11,000 troops and more than 130 military vehicles, although a planned military flypast was cancelled.

Western powers were unimpressed by Putin's words. British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace accused Putin of "mirroring fascism".