Vladimir Putin vows Ukraine win at scaled-down Victory Day parade
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II - a show that didn’t include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades.
Security was tight in Moscow as Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, which was scaled down even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.
Putin, in power for more than a quarter-century, has used Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday, to showcase the country’s military might and rally support for his military action in Ukraine, now in its fifth year. Speaking at the parade, 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”.
“Victory has always been and will be ours,” Putin said as columns of troops lined up on Red Square. “The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valour, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge.” But in a notable shift this year, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy equipment, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.
Officials explained the sudden change of format by the “current operational situation” and said that additional security measures have been taken in response to the threat of Ukrainian attacks.
For the first time, Saturday’s parade featured troops from North Korea, a tribute to Pyongyang that sent its soldiers to fight alongside Moscow forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a truce that was supposed to begin on May 6, but neither of them held as the parties traded blame for continuing attacks.
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have bowed to his request for a ceasefire running Saturday through Monday and an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war.
Zelenskyy, who said earlier this week that the Russian authorities “fear drones may buzz over Red Square” on May 9, 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.
The Russian Defence Ministry warned the civilian population there and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of “the need to leave the city promptly”.
Putin has used Victory Day celebrations to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.
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,” Putin said at the parade.
