Kwesi Pratt is a veteran journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper
Veteran journalist and Pan-African campaigner, Kwesi Pratt Jr, has warned that Ukraine’s drone attacks on Moscow ahead of the 80th anniversary of the commemoration of the Victory Day will only prolong the conflict with Russia.
He said the entire episode of war is of interest to Ukraine and its Western allies who stand to gain in the scheme of arms sales.
But the war, he said, will not end as long as it benefits the Global West.
“Looking at the state of the economies of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom today, it’s obvious that most of the EU enterprises are in decline or stagnation at best. The situation is different with enterprises of the military-industrial complex: the shares of Rheinmetall, the main supplier of weapons to Ukraine, and other arms companies have increased significantly,” he reveals.
It appeared to indicate why the West, with worsening conditions of labour, unemployment, soaring prices, among others, would not allow the thriving weapon supply business to run dry.
It thus explains the proxy war the West has forced Ukraine into, appearing as though it seeks the interest of Ukraine.
In a piece on the relevance of the Victory Day parade in the Insight newspaper on Friday, May 9, 2025, Pratt stated that “this is an indication that Ukraine is seeking escalation in the war with Russia as it benefits the (Volodymyr) Zelensky regime and the collective West who continue to profit from the billions of arms sales.”
“The series of drone strikes unleashed by Ukraine in a bid to disrupt the celebration, despite the truce proposed by Russia, lends credence to the pro-fascist nature and aim of the Ukrainian leadership and is also a testament that it seeks neither truce nor peace with Russia,” he added.
He described the drone attacks on Moscow as deeply concerning for fight disruptions it caused which led to diversion of most flights, saying it “is a serious act of aggression and escalation that must be condemned.”
“Even worrying is the threat by the Ukrainian President, Volodymrry Zelensky to unleash more drone terror attacks to disrupt the celebration in Moscow today, despite world leaders being in attendance,” he insisted.
Pratt drew parallels between the Ukrainian aggression of today and the Nazi regime of the World War II era, and chastised President Zelensky for his refusal to walk the path of peace rather than escalating conflict.
“These worrying developments both in Russia and Ukraine must be of concern to all the world over as the rippling effects could be dire,” he wrote.
He also had choice words for the US in particular and the Western allies of Ukraine.
“The US under (President Donald) Trump is preaching peace whilst supplying drones and other deadly weapons such as missiles for Ukraine as the UK and France have also intensified their war rhetoric, all in a bid to prolong the conflict,” he stressed.
“In all these, the world suffers as a result of the hypocrisy of the West,” he added before going on to discuss the issues that had sparked the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, citing also Kiev’s own internal conflict with the people of the Donbass Region which claimed the lives of over 14,000 people and compelled about two million people to flee to safety. They eventually ended up as refugees in Russia.
This, he said, was only the beginning of Ukraine’s new identity as a war-possessed nation.
“As a result, Russia had to undertake two separate peacekeeping initiatives aimed at ending the bloodshed in 2014 and 2015.
“Ukraine then signed the Minsk Agreements initiated by the Russian side, which represented a step-by-step plan for the return to a peaceful life.
“But the Kiev regime renounced its international obligations, having preferred confrontation to peace settlement as (President) Zelensky declared Ukraine’s nuclear ambitions and intentions to build up an anti-Russian military policy as a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation),” Pratt wrote.
The outcome, he said, had been the destruction of life and property, with Ukrainians ensuring the pain of the craving for conflict rather than choosing the path to peace.
