At Normandy D-Day celebrations, echoes of Ukraine’s looming fight

By TARA COPP
Associated Press

STE MARE EGLISE, Normandy, France — (AP) — There are no Ukrainian troops present at this year’s commemorations of the 1944 D-Day landings in Normandy, which launched the Allied invasion of Europe and led to the end of World War II. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has echoed throughout the events leading up to June 6 celebrations, the date when Operation Overlord launched. The celebration is taking place as Ukraine prepares to launch its own counteroffensive against Russia. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, has cautioned against too direct a comparison but admits the goal “is certainly the same, to liberate occupied territory and to free a country that has been unjustly attacked by an aggressor nation, in this case, Russia.”