Russia Holds Scaled-Back Victory Day Parade After Ukraine Ceasefire Takes Effect

Russia held a scaled-back Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday after a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine took effect, with the event brief and without the usual display of heavy military hardware.

“L'evento, ridimensionato drasticamente per "minacce alla sicurezza", e l'agenda dello zar”

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Vladimir Putin used his address to justify Russia’s war in Ukraine as he denounced Nato and called Ukraine an "aggressive force" that is being "armed and supported by the whole bloc of Nato".

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The BBC reported that for the first time in years no armoured vehicles or ballistic missiles featured in Moscow’s Victory Day parade, while military personnel marched in droves under tightened security.

The NBC News account said the parade was brief and Putin appeared amid tight security after a U.S.-led three-day ceasefire eased concerns about Ukraine disrupting the occasion with drone attacks.

NBC News also said Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave specific assurances that there would not be a strike on the event in Moscow’s Red Square under the temporary ceasefire deal that includes a prisoner exchange to free 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

After the parade, Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of breaking the ceasefire, without providing details, while Ukraine did not immediately comment, according to the BBC.

The NBC News report said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off Zelenskyy’s decree as a "silly joke" and told reporters, "We don’t need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day."

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NBC News also described how Russian officials interpreted Zelenskyy’s earlier questions about drones over Red Square as a threat, and said Russian officials threatened to retaliate for any attack with a "massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv."

The BBC said Putin started his speech by commemorating the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers during World War Two and then framed the war in Ukraine as confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by Nato.

The BBC further reported that Russia’s defence ministry claimed Ukraine had violated the truce after the ceremony, while Russia said it would continue to observe the ceasefire.

Foreign attendance at the Moscow parade included Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko, Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and the BBC said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was also pictured meeting Putin at the Kremlin ahead of the parade.

“Russia is holding a significantly scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2026, reflecting heightened security concerns and the ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year”

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The BBC reported that Fico was the only representative of the EU to attend, and it said he was pictured meeting Putin at the Kremlin ahead of the parade while Victory Day celebrations took place in other parts of Russia in fewer numbers than previous years.

The Telegraph said North Korean soldiers marched through Moscow’s Red Square for the first time as part of scaled-back celebrations, and it said Kim Jong Un was not present at the parade.

The Telegraph also said the whole event was over in just 45 minutes and Vladimir Putin only spoke for 10 minutes, even as he hailed Russia’s achievements on the battlefield in Ukraine and struck out at Nato.

In the BBC’s account, the parade’s muted format was tied to security fears of Ukrainian attack, and it noted that threats of Ukrainian drones were used to justify paring back the event.