{"id":440546,"date":"2026-05-09T16:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T16:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/440546\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T16:12:12","slug":"moscow-holds-scaled-back-victory-day-parade-as-russia-ukraine-ceasefire-begins-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/440546\/","title":{"rendered":"Moscow holds scaled-back Victory Day parade as Russia-Ukraine ceasefire begins \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vladimir Putin<\/a> presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Moscow\u2019s Red Square on Saturday, as a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine<\/a> began on the same day.<\/p>\n

The ceremony lasted just 45 minutes \u2013 roughly half the length of previous years \u2013 as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over the Russian holiday. <\/p>\n

The Russian president struck a defiant tone, however, invoking the sacrifices of the second World War to rally support for his troops in Ukraine. <\/p>\n

\u201cVictory has always been and will always be ours,\u201d he told the crowd, using the celebration to draw his now-familiar \u2013 and historically false \u2013 parallel between the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany and his invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A three-day ceasefire that began on Saturday will include \u201ca suspension of all \u201ckinetic [physical military] activity\u201d 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. <\/p>\n

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<\/a> in exchange for the Victory Day ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Mr Putin, in power for more than a quarter of a century, used Russia\u2019s most important secular holiday to rally support for his war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Victory Day military parade has been held in Moscow. Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov\/AP <\/p>\n

Speaking at the parade, Mr Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring that they \u201cface an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of Nato\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key to success is our moral strength, courage and valour, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent, replaced by a video showcasing Russia\u2019s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal. <\/p>\n

The audience included only a small delegation of foreign leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Laos and Malaysia. <\/p>\n

They watched a column of North Korean soldiers march across the square, troops from one of Russia\u2019s closest allies who have fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. <\/p>\n

Moscow was blanketed in heavy security, with internet services switched off across the city. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"RussianRussian servicemen stand in formation before the Victory Day military parade in Moscow. Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov\/AP <\/p>\n

Officials said the sudden change of format was due to the \u201ccurrent operational situation\u201d and pointed to the threat of Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the authorities have taken \u201cadditional security measures\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cbeginning of the end\u201d of the war.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy, who said earlier this week that the Russian authorities \u201cfear drones may buzz over Red Square\u201d on May 9th, followed up on Trump\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Mr Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, shrugged off Mr Zelensky\u2019s decree as a \u201csilly joke\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need anyone\u2019s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,\u201d Mr Peskov told reporters.<\/p>\n

Russian authorities had warned that if Ukraine attempted to disrupt Saturday\u2019s festivities, Russia would carry out a \u201cmassive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv\u201d.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s bigger and better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 600-mile front line.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"VladimirVladimir 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 <\/p>\n

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\u2019s divisive history under communist rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Mr Putin said at the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur 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.\u201d \u2013 Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Moscow\u2019s Red Square on Saturday, as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,3589,40,38,41,39,9688,5936,58419],"class_list":["post-440546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine-crisis","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}