Russia held its most scaled-back Victory Day parade in years on Saturday due to the threat of attack from Ukraine, where victory for Moscow’s forces has proven elusive more than four years into the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.
The May 9 parade on Red Square marks Russia’s most revered national holiday - a time to celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and to pay homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens, including many from Ukraine, who perished.
Once used to show off Russia’s vast military, including its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, the parade this year had no tanks or other military equipment rolling over the cobbles of Red Square.
Soldiers and sailors, some of whom have served in Ukraine, marched and cheered as President Vladimir Putin looked on, seated beside Russian veterans in the shadow of Vladimir Lenin’s Mausoleum.
Fighter planes will fly above the towers of the Kremlin and Putin is due to make a speech before laying flowers at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
