Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday, as a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine began on the same day.
The ceremony lasted just 45 minutes – roughly half the length of previous years – as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over the Russian holiday.
The Russian president struck a defiant tone, however, invoking the sacrifices of the second World War to rally support for his troops in Ukraine.
“Victory has always been and will always be ours,” he told the crowd, using the celebration to draw his now-familiar – and historically false – parallel between the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany and his invasion of Ukraine.
Security was tight in Moscow as Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.
A three-day ceasefire that began on Saturday will include “a suspension of all “kinetic [physical military] activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country. Although it was first announced by Donald Trump on social media, it has since been confirmed by both sides.
Russia had previously announced a ceasefire to mark its May 9th Victory Day, which Ukraine had previously lambasted after Moscow intensified attacks with a series of devastating bombings of busy urban areas this week. Those attacks came in spite of a unilateral 24-hour ceasefire called by Volodymyr Zelenskiy in exchange for the Victory Day ceasefire.
Mr Putin, in power for more than a quarter of a century, used Russia’s most important secular holiday to rally support for his war in Ukraine.
The Victory Day military parade has been held in Moscow. Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP
Speaking at the parade, Mr Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring that they “face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of Nato”.
“The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valour, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge.”
But this year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.
The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent, replaced by a video showcasing Russia’s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal.
The audience included only a small delegation of foreign leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Laos and Malaysia.
They watched a column of North Korean soldiers march across the square, troops from one of Russia’s closest allies who have fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
Moscow was blanketed in heavy security, with internet services switched off across the city.
Russian authorities openly acknowledged the measures were designed specifically to protect Putin, an admission that underscored how dramatically the calculus of a war Russia once expected to win in weeks has shifted.
Russian servicemen stand in formation before the Victory Day military parade in Moscow. Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP
Officials said the sudden change of format was due to the “current operational situation” and pointed to the threat of Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the authorities have taken “additional security measures”.
Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, while Zelenskiy announced a truce that was supposed to begin on May 6th, but neither of them held as the parties traded blame for continuing attacks.
Trump announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine had bowed to his request for a ceasefire running from Saturday to Monday and an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war.
Zelenskiy, who said earlier this week that the Russian authorities “fear drones may buzz over Red Square” on May 9th, followed up on Trump’s statement by issuing a decree mockingly permitting Russia to hold its Victory Day celebrations on Saturday, declaring Red Square temporarily off-limits for Ukrainian strikes.
Mr Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, shrugged off Mr Zelensky’s decree as a “silly joke”.
“We don’t need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,” Mr Peskov told reporters.
Russian authorities had warned that if Ukraine attempted to disrupt Saturday’s festivities, Russia would carry out a “massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv”.
Russia’s bigger and better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 600-mile front line.
However, Ukraine has hit back with increasingly efficient long-range attacks, striking Russian energy facilities, manufacturing plants and military depots. It has developed drones capable of reaching targets more than 600 miles deep into Russia, far beyond its capabilities before 2022.
Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders attend a ceremony to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in 1941-45 in what it calls the Great Patriotic War, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche and remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under communist rule.
“We celebrate it with feelings of pride and love for our country, with understanding of our shared duty to defend the interests and future of our Motherland,” Mr Putin said at the parade.
“Our soldiers suffered colossal losses, made a colossal sacrifice in the name of freedom and dignity of the peoples of Europe, became the embodiment of courage and nobility, fortitude and humanity, and crowned themselves with the great glory of a grandiose victory.” – Agencies