Putin visits Crimea as violence escalates in eastern Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin used the occasion of Russia’s holiday commemorating victory over the Nazis in World War II to make his first visit to the city of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula since Russia annexed the former Ukrainian territory to great international protest.

His visit — just hours after delivering his annual speech at a military parade in Moscow on Friday — comes as pro-Russian uprisings flare in Russian-speaking eastern parts of Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western backers say the outbreaks of unrest have been engineered by Russia to destabilize Ukraine following a recent pro-European revolution.

The Kyiv interim government announced Friday that a "counterterror" operation killed 20 pro-Russian insurgents in the southeastern port city of Mariupol, though that count could not be independently confirmed. The insurgents, part of the "People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine, had occupied the Mariupol police headquarters, which caught fire during the Ukrainian offensive.

SLIDESHOW: VIOLENCE IN MARIUPOL

A local photographer at the scene said that the three-story stone building was ablaze, and that he had seen bodies lying in the street outside.

Pro-Russian protesters have seized control of a number of cities, some with the express goal of splitting from the Kyiv government and others merely demanding greater autonomy, in line with Moscow's call for a federalized Ukraine. A referendum similar to Crimea’s is scheduled for May 11 in Donetsk to decide whether it should join Russia, ignoring a plea from Putin to postpone the vote.

Russia denies any involvement in Ukraine and condemns what it calls the far-right nationalist uprising that replaced the country’s pro-Russian president in February with a West-facing interim government.

That narrative was underlined as thousands of Russian troops marched in Moscow's Red Square to celebrate Russian victory over fascist powers in World War II in a parade that also showcased about 150 items of military hardware. Russian aircraft flew overhead.

In his speech, Putin praised the strength of Russia's "all-conquering" patriotism and stressed the importance of standing up for the interests of "the motherland.”

"This is a holiday when all-conquering patriotic force triumphs, when we all feel especially strongly what it means to be true to the motherland and how important it is to be able to stand up for its interests," Putin told massed troops, to shouts of "Hurrah!"

Russia has further accused the new Kyiv leadership of support for a wartime fighter who collaborated with the Nazis, Stepan Bandera, and regularly refers to pro-Russian separatists as fighting "neo-Nazis" and "fascists."

"In Europe, militant nationalism is rearing its head again, the same that led to the appearance of Nazi ideology," Putin warned on Thursday in a separate speech to leaders of other ex-Soviet states.

Friday’s visit to Crimea, whose annexation in March has been condemned by Western powers, drew accusations that Putin was not committed to de-escalating tensions in Ukraine — something he has said he wants.

The U.S. State Department called Putin's visit "unnecessary" and "provocative." The government in Kyiv accused Russia of deliberately trying to escalate the crisis.

The head of NATO, which is locked in its sharpest tensions with Russia since the Cold War, renewed doubts over an assurance by the Russian president that he had pulled back troops from the Ukrainian border, where about 40,000 Russian soldiers have been stationed for months.

Russia and other ex-Soviet countries mark Nazi surrender a day after most Western countries celebrate Victory Day because of the time difference.

The Soviet Union lost an estimated 30 million people during World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany.

Al Jazeera and wire services

SLIDESHOW: VICTORY DAY IN UKRAINE'S DISPUTED CITIES