Russia is hosting its Victory Day parade on Saturday, the most restricted in years due to threats of attacks from Ukraine, where Moscow’s victory remains elusive over four years after the start of the deadliest European conflict since World War II.
The May 9 parade on Red Square marks Russia’s most revered national holiday – a moment to celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and honor the 27 million Soviet citizens, including many Ukrainians, who perished.
Once used to showcase Russian military power, including its intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear capabilities, this year’s parade will see no tanks or other military equipment rolling on the Red Square cobblestones.
Soldiers will march and cheer under the shadow of Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum, fighter jets will fly over the Kremlin towers, and President Vladimir Putin will deliver a speech before laying flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
‘In general, everything is proceeding as usual, except for the military hardware display,’ Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has warned that any attempt by Kiev to disrupt the event will result in a massive missile strike on the Ukrainian capital. Moscow has told foreign diplomats they should evacuate Kiev staff in case of such an attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that his country’s actions on May 9 depend on the situation’s evolution, accusing Moscow of violating its own ceasefire.
Moscow is defended by air defense belts and electronic barriers designed to disorient and shoot down drones and missiles approaching the capital, which with its surrounding region, is home to 22 million people.
WAR IN UKRAINE HAUNTS RUSSIAN PARADE
After the Soviet Union’s invasion by Nazi Germany in 1941, the Red Army eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the Soviet Victory red banner was raised on the Reichstag in May 1945.
The unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany came into effect at 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, marked as ‘Victory in Europe Day’ by Britain, the U.S., and France. In Moscow, it was already May 9, which has become the ‘Day of Victory’ of the Soviet Union in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
But this year’s parade comes as a climate of anxiety looms in Moscow about the final outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands, left swathes of Ukraine in ruins, and drained the Russian economy of $3 trillion, while relations with Europe are at their lowest since the darkest days of the Cold War.
‘The crisis continues to deepen gradually, but any abrupt movement could send the economy (and not just the economy) into a tailspin,’ pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, an imprisoned former Federal Security Service officer, said on Telegram, criticizing the Kremlin for its conduct of the war.
Girkin used a naval analogy to claim that Russian leaders feared being expelled from their cabins more than facing a shipwreck.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed CNN and other Western media reports that Putin’s protection had been strengthened out of fear of a coup or assassination. Russian officials called conspiracy rumors absurd.
Just 21 years ago, however, Putin sat alongside President George W. Bush at the Moscow parade, along with French President Jacques Chirac and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
This year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim, and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith will be present.
