Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a pared-down Victory Parade in Moscow on Saturday, without the usual lines of tanks or missile carriers rolling through Red Square to mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany.
Russia’s Defense Ministry blamed the “current operational situation” for the low-key ceremony, a reference to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. But Russian leaders were also reportedly consumed by the threat posed to the event by Kyiv’s fleet of long-range drones, which have grown increasingly sophisticated in recent years.
The parade has normally served as a show of force from Russia, both to honor the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in World War II, and to demonstrate the nation’s vast military power, including its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Read More: What It’s Like to Live in Ukraine, 4 Years Since Russia’s Invasion
Yet Moscow’s simplest Victory Day parade in recent memory comes as the Kremlin is struggling to achieve meaningful gains on the battlefield in Ukraine, some four years now.
Fewer international leaders and press were present than in last year’s grand parade, forcing most press to rely on Russian state media present at the event. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday the number of journalists is limited “since the entire ceremony is somewhat limited.” CNN said it was initially accredited to attend the parade, but those privileges were stripped on Thursday.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith and Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim were among those in attendance as Russian soldiers and sailors—along with North Korean troops who reportedly fought alongside them in Ukraine—marched in the country’s capital as fighter jets flew above.
“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin said in his speech, referencing the war in Ukraine. “They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the whole bloc of NATO. And despite this, our heroes move forward.”
Massive screens showed these jets, intercontinental missiles, drones, and a nuclear submarine, still an attempt to show weaponry strength.
He was protected by a large security detail during his appearance, as recent reports claim that the Kremlin has tightened its monitoring of Putin amid fears of assassination attempts and possible coup plots.
Zelensky gives ‘permission’ for parade to take place
Last week, Russia unsuccessfully tried to convince Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire on the day of the parade. But on Friday, President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine agreed to a last minute three-day ceasefire from May 9 to 11, which includes “a suspension of all kinetic activity, and also a prison swap of 1,000 prisoners from each Country.”
“This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement by President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very long, deadly, and hard fought War.”
Zelensky said in an official presidential decree tinged with sarcasm that he would “permit the holding of a parade”, adding on Xthat the “Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home.”
Peskov, meanwhile, told reporters that Russia did not “need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day.” Russia’s Defense Ministry had threatened to “launch a retaliatory, massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv” if it was to disrupt the parade.
Yet, Ukraine’s long-range missiles and drones have become increasingly threatening to Russia, with one drone crashing into a high-rise building miles away from the Kremlin in the western part of Moscow just days ahead of the event.
Russia making slow progress on battlefield
More than four years after launching what it initially described as a “three-day special military operation,” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has slowed to an attritional grind.
New figures released by the Latvia-based Russian-language media outlet Meduza and independent Russian outlet Mediazona found that about 352,000 Russian soldiers had died in the war against Ukraine from its beginning in February 2022 through the end of 2025.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, estimated similar numbers in January. CSIS also said Russia was “advancing remarkably slowly on the battlefield,” as its economic standing is further strained by the cost of the war.
A Russian offensive aimed at the city of Pokrovsk, for example, advanced at a rate of 70 meters a day between Feb. 2024 and Jan. 2026, which CSIS described as “slower than the most brutal offensive campaigns over the last century, including the notoriously bloody Battle of the Somme during World War I.”
Despite these losses, Moscow continues to profess that it can outlast Kyiv, making slow advances across the 600-mile front line.
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