Vladimir Putin Oversees Scaled-Back Victory Day Parade on Moscow’s Red Square

Russia held a scaled-back Victory Day military parade on Moscow’s Red Square on Saturday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin overseeing the event commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

“Russia has held its annual Victory Day military parade in Moscow to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany during the second world war”

Al Jazeera

Putin said at the parade that Russian troops “face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of NATO,” while the ceremony took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades.

Al Jazeera

Officials explained the change of format by the “current operational situation” and the threat of Ukrainian attacks, and authorities also ordered restrictions on all mobile internet access and text messaging services in Moscow on Saturday.

Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova reported from Moscow that the parade instead showed a video of Russian military equipment deployed to Ukraine, with assets not displayed because “tanks are needed at the [military] front, not at the parade”.

The parade’s security posture was tight as Putin and several foreign leaders attended, and it followed a U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire that eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.

The downsized parade unfolded after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to his request for a ceasefire running Saturday through Monday and an exchange of prisoners, which Trump said could be the “beginning of the end” of the war.

But both sides traded accusations of ceasefire violations, with the Ukrainian General Staff saying, “Since the beginning of the day, the number of attacks by the aggressor has reached 51,” according to AFP reporting late on Saturday.

AP News

Russia’s defense ministry countered that “Despite the declaration of a ceasefire, Ukrainian armed groups launched attacks using drones and artillery against our troops’ positions,” and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the authorities had taken “additional security measures.”

Putin told reporters after the parade that he believed Russia’s war on Ukraine is “coming to an end,” while Zelenskyy had earlier issued a decree mockingly permitting Russia to hold its Victory Day celebrations on Saturday and declaring Red Square temporarily off-limits for Ukrainian strikes.

Al Jazeera reported that Russia threatened Kyiv if Victory Day was disrupted, warning that Russia would carry out a “massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv” if Ukraine attempted to disrupt Saturday’s festivities.

The parade’s format and security measures were tied to the broader contest over Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia, as the BBC described how authorities cited security concerns fearing Ukraine might target Red Square with drones.

“- Published I've attended many Victory Day parades on Red Square”

BBC

In the BBC account, the Kremlin’s response to the absence of hardware on the square was to show it on screens, with the Kremlin appearing to decide that if it couldn’t parade its military hardware in public, a video presentation was the next best thing.

The Guardian reported that internet services were switched off across Moscow as Ukraine continued to rattle the Kremlin with long-range drone and missile strikes, and it said the customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent entirely.

Time Magazine said Russia’s Defense Ministry blamed the “current operational situation” for the low-key ceremony, while also pointing to the threat posed by Kyiv’s fleet of long-range drones.

With the ceasefire set to run until 11 May, the next phase in the sources centers on whether the parties can keep the truce and prisoner exchange on track as Moscow continues to frame its war in Ukraine through the Victory Day narrative.