Russian President Vladimir Putin told troops on Red Square that “victory has always been and will be ours” during a Victory Day parade Saturday that lacked tanks, missiles, and heavy armor for the first time since 2008. The scaled-down display came as a three-day US-brokered ceasefire took hold, easing fears of a direct attack on the Moscow festivities. “The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valor,” Putin declared.
The absence of heavy military hardware was the most visible sign of the war’s toll. State television commentators said the weaponry was needed more on the battlefield in Ukraine. Officials cited the “current operational situation” and the threat of Ukrainian attacks for the sudden format change.
Mobile internet and text messaging services were restricted across the Russian capital Saturday. Authorities said the measure was necessary for public safety. The government has methodically tightened online controls since the invasion began.
For the first time, North Korean troops marched across Red Square. Pyongyang sent soldiers to fight alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region, where Ukraine staged an incursion. Their presence was a tribute to a military partnership that has deepened dramatically during the conflict.
A unilateral Russian ceasefire was declared for Friday and Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a truce meant to begin May 6. Neither held.
Both sides traded blame for continuing attacks. US President Donald Trump announced Friday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a ceasefire running Saturday through Monday, paired with a prisoner exchange. He called it the potential “beginning of the end” of the war.
The announcement reframed the parade’s security calculus. Zelensky issued a decree mockingly permitting Russia to hold its celebrations, declaring Red Square temporarily off-limits for Ukrainian strikes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed it as a “silly joke.” “We don’t need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,” Peskov told reporters.
Russian authorities warned that any Ukrainian attempt to disrupt the festivities would trigger a “massive missile strike on the center of Kyiv.” The Russian Defense Ministry told civilians and foreign diplomats to leave the city promptly. The EU said its diplomats would not evacuate. Putin has led Russia for over a quarter-century.
He has consistently used Victory Day to rally support for the war, now entering its fifth year. Addressing troops, he said Russian forces “face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of NATO” and are fighting a “just cause.”
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War. That sacrifice remains a deep national scar and a rare point of consensus in Russia’s divisive history. “We celebrate it with feelings of pride and love for our country,” Putin said. Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar attended the festivities.
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So did the presidents of Laos, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, stood among the foreign dignitaries. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier but stayed away from the Red Square parade.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the visit. “I deeply regret this, and we will discuss his visit to Moscow with him,” Merz said. Fico met with Putin in the Kremlin. He bemoaned a new “Iron Curtain” in Europe that hampered trade and stressed the importance of Russian energy supplies to Slovakia.
Putin praised Fico for conducting a “sovereign” foreign policy. Russia’s larger, better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 1,000-kilometer front line. Ukraine has hit back with increasingly efficient long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, manufacturing plants, and military depots.
It has developed drones capable of reaching targets over 1,000 kilometers deep into Russia. Victory Day parades on Red Square have featured a broad array of heavy weapons every year since 2008. Smaller parades across the country were also pared down or canceled for security reasons.
The policy says one thing. The reality says another. Why It Matters: The parade’s stripped-down format is the clearest public admission yet that the war in Ukraine is straining Russia’s military resources.
For working families in Russia, the absence of tanks on Red Square translates to a tangible message: the hardware is at war, not at home. For Ukraine, the temporary ceasefire and prisoner exchange offer a narrow window to assess Russia’s immediate intentions. - Russia’s Victory Day parade lacked heavy military hardware for the first time since 2008, with officials citing battlefield needs in Ukraine. - A US-brokered three-day ceasefire held during the event, with a prisoner exchange announced by President Trump. - Slovak PM Robert Fico met Putin in Moscow, drawing sharp criticism from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. What this actually means for your family: The weapons usually paraded through Moscow are now firing on Ukrainian cities.
The ceasefire, however fragile, has paused some of that violence. The prisoner exchange means some families on both sides will see loved ones return. But the diplomatic choreography—Zelensky’s mock decree, Peskov’s dismissal, Fico’s visit—shows how far Europe remains from a lasting peace.
The next 72 hours will test whether the truce can hold beyond Monday. Watch for whether the prisoner exchange proceeds on schedule and whether either side uses the pause to reposition forces for the next phase of a war that has already consumed a generation of military hardware.
Key Takeaways
— - Russia's Victory Day parade lacked heavy military hardware for the first time since 2008, with officials citing battlefield needs in Ukraine.
— - A US-brokered three-day ceasefire held during the event, with a prisoner exchange announced by President Trump.
— - North Korean troops marched on Red Square for the first time, underscoring Pyongyang's deepening military role in the conflict.
— - Slovak PM Robert Fico met Putin in Moscow, drawing sharp criticism from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Source: The Independent
