Moscow shuts down airports and mobile signals as Victory Day parade looms | Russia
Russia closed its airports and temporarily cut off mobile internet access to many users in Moscow on Tuesday as it tightened security ahead of the May 9 Victory Day parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The parade, Russia’s most important national celebration, has already been scaled back and will proceed without heavy military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades, amid fears of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes.
Ukraine has recently demonstrated the ability to penetrate Moscow’s dense air defense systems: On Monday morning, a drone crashed into a high-rise apartment building just a few kilometers from the Kremlin.
In what appeared to be an effort to protect the military parade, Moscow earlier this month declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine from May 8-9, warning of a “massive missile attack” on central Kiev if that ceasefire was violated.
Victory Day has been central to Vladimir Putin’s vision of Russian identity during his more than 25 years in power. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has further intensified the annual celebrations, with Putin using the opportunity to frame and legitimize the current war.
Ukraine rejected the proposal as a cynical ploy to protect the parade from drone attacks. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by declaring a separate ceasefire effective May 6, saying it was “not serious” to expect Kiev to observe a ceasefire tied to Russia’s military holiday.
Kyrylo Budanov, private secretary to the Ukrainian president, later said that Ukraine’s ceasefire offer showed that the country was ready for a longer peace.
Budanov wrote on Telegram: “The ceasefire brought by Ukraine shows a real desire for peace on our part. It is not tied to any history for the sake of imposing ideological dogmas, but for the sake of protecting human life and restoring security.”
“If the ceasefire announced by the President is mutual, we will extend it. This will give us a small hope of establishing permanent peace.” Moscow has not yet commented on Ukraine’s proposal.
Security in the Russian capital has been visibly tightened ahead of the parade, with checkpoints set up throughout the city and snipers and machine gun teams deployed to the Kremlin towers.
On Tuesday, residents woke up to dead mobile signals across Moscow. Taxi drivers said they couldn’t get paid, while delivery couriers had to use home Wi-Fi to knock on customers’ doors and mark orders as completed. Access appears to have been largely restored by midday, but further disruptions are expected in the coming days.
Russian officials have previously argued that such closures are necessary to protect the capital from drone attacks and acts of sabotage.
The months-long blackouts have pushed some Russians back to walkie-talkies and pagers, sparking outrage across the country and sinking Putin’s approval ratings.
The Russian Orthodox church on Tuesday appealed to citizens not to worry about widespread internet outages, suggesting they use the outage to “save the soul” and reflect on charity. A senior church official said the power outages should prompt reflections on the “fragility of technological civilization” and how “the omnipotence of technology is as dim as infinity.”
All four of Moscow’s airports suspended operations on Tuesday due to unspecified security concerns. Last year, Ukraine attempted to disrupt the lead-up to the event by launching a swarm of explosives-laden drones at Moscow, causing travel chaos with thousands of flights canceled or postponed.
In addition to increased security measures on the streets of Moscow, Russia has also increased Putin’s personal protection in recent months. According to European intelligence report Quoted by iStories outlet.
Russia’s Federal Protection Service (FSO), which is responsible for protecting senior officials, has significantly tightened security around the president. He is said to be spending more time in underground bunkers, micromanaging the war effort, and becoming increasingly distant from civilian life.
The report stated that cooks, bodyguards and photographers working with the president were also banned from traveling on public transport due to fear of a possible assassination attack on the president in the Kremlin.
