Military parade in Moscow. When it starts and what we know about the smallest such event in years
Russia is holding its smallest Victory Day parade in years on Saturday morning after Donald Trump announced a three-day truce in the war in Ukraine, confirmed by the Kremlin and Volodymyr Zelensky, who issued a decree “allowing” the Red Square parade to take place.
The American president announced on Friday evening a three-day truce between Ukraine and Russia, starting on Saturday, May 9, until Monday, May 11. “Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end of a very long, bloody and difficult war,” Trump said, adding that the truce would also include “a prisoner exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each country.”
Soon after, Zelensky issued a decree “allowing” Russia's Victory Day military parade to take place and guaranteeing that no Ukrainian weapons would be pointed at Moscow's Red Square.
Just 21 years ago, Putin was sitting next to US President George W. Bush at the parade in Moscow, alongside French leader Jacques Chirac and Chinese leader Hu Jintao.
Now the only Western leader is Slovakian President Robert Fico. Instead, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, King Sultan Ibrahim of Malaysia and Laos President Thongloun Sisoulith will attend.
“In general, everything is business as usual,” the Kremlin claims
The May 9 parade on Red Square marks Russia's most important national holiday — a time to celebrate the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany and pay tribute to the 27 million Soviet citizens, including many from Ukraine, who died in that war.
The parade will start at 10:00 local time (same time in Romania).
Once used to show off Russia's vast military, including nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, this year's parade will have no tanks or other military equipment rolling down the cobblestones of Red Square
Soldiers will continue to march in the shadow of the Mausoleum of Vladimir Lenin, fighter jets will fly over the Kremlin towers and President Vladimir Putin will give a speech before laying flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“In general, everything is as usual, except for the demonstration of military equipment,” said the Kremlin's top foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov.
Russia warned Ukraine not to spoil its parade
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, warned that any attempt by Kiev to disrupt Saturday's event would lead to a massive missile attack on the Ukrainian capital. Moscow has told foreign diplomats it would have to evacuate its staff from Kiev in the event of such an attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued an ironic decree “allowing” the Russian military parade to take place on May 9 and stating that Ukrainian weapons will not target Red Square.
Moscow is defended by air defense rings and electronic barriers designed to confuse and shoot down drones and missiles approaching the capital, which, along with the surrounding region, has a population of 22 million.
Russia celebrates a day later than the West
After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Red Army eventually pushed the Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red flag of Soviet victory was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945.
The unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany took effect at 23:01 on 8 May 1945, marked as “Victory in Europe Day” by Britain, the United States and France.
It was already May 9 in Moscow, which became the Soviet Union's “Victory Day” in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
But this year's parade comes amid a wave of anxiety in Moscow about the final outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, left swathes of Ukraine in ruins and drained Russia's $3 trillion economy, while Russia's relations with Europe are worse than at any time since the height of the Cold War.
