Putin attends smaller parade as worries deepen over war
Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years due to the threat of attack from Ukraine; Victory for Moscow’s forces here has proven elusive more than four years into the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The May 9 parade on Red Square symbolizes Russia’s most revered national holiday; this is a time when the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany is celebrated and tributes are paid to the 27 million Soviet citizens who lost their lives, including many from Ukraine.
There were no tanks or other military equipment roaming the pavements of Red Square at the 2026 parade, which was once used to show off Russia’s massive military, including nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Instead, the weapons, including the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, the new Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine, the Peresvet laser gun and scores of drones and artillery, were shown on giant screens in Red Square and on state television.
Soldiers and sailors, some serving in Ukraine, marched and cheered as they watched President Vladimir Putin sit next to Russian veterans in the shadow of Vladimir Lenin’s Mausoleum.
North Korean troops fighting against Ukrainians in Russia’s Kursk region also marched.
Warplanes flew over the Kremlin towers and Putin gave an eight-minute speech promising victory in the war in Ukraine.
“The great success of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers who perform the tasks of the special military operation today,” Putin said.
“They are facing an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And yet our heroes march forward.”
After Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating the unilateral ceasefires they declared recently, US President Donald Trump declared a three-day ceasefire from Saturday to Monday with the support of the Kremlin and Kiev.
There were no reports of violations of the ceasefire from either Moscow or Kiev.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, had warned that any attempt by Kiev to disrupt Saturday’s event would lead to a massive missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Moscow told foreign diplomats that they should evacuate personnel in Kiev in the event of such an attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a tongue-in-cheek decree “allowing” Russia’s May 9 military parade to go ahead and saying Ukrainian weapons would not target Red Square.
Security was tight in Moscow. Reuters photos showed armed soldiers atop pickup trucks and roads blocked around the center of the capital.
The 2026 parade took place amid a wave of concern in Moscow about the ultimate outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.
The war killed hundreds of thousands of people, left large parts of Ukraine in ruins, and depleted Russia’s economy; Russia’s relations with Europe are worse than ever since the depths of the Cold War.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied reports in Western media that Putin’s protection had been increased due to fears of a coup or assassination.
Russian officials dismissed the news about the coup plan as nonsense.
