Russia will not bring military equipment to traditional May 9 parade due to 'operational situation'

Next month, Russia will mark the victory over Germany in the Second World War through the traditional parade organized on May 9 in Moscow's Red Square, but without the usual parade with military equipment, in the context of the “operational situation” in the war in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday night, quoted by Reuters.

The parade on May 9, the day Nazi Germany signed the surrender agreement with the Soviet Union, will this year mark the 81st anniversary of victory in what Russians call the “Great Patriotic War.”

One of the main holidays in the Russian calendar, it allows dwindling veterans to gather in the streets wearing their medals. The event that usually causes a wave of emotion in Russia is also marked by art films, documentaries and war music.

But the ministry specified that this year no military equipment will parade through the market.

“Soldiers from higher military educational institutions of all types and from certain branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will participate in the parade, as part of the marching column,” according to a statement issued late Tuesday by the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

Airplanes will fly over Red Square on the day of the “Victory Day” parade

The communiqué also states that the representatives of certain educational institutions will not participate “and no column of military equipment will take part in the military parade, in the context of the current operational situation”.

It also states that the parade will highlight the activity of servicemen from all categories of forces involved in the “special military operation”, as the Kremlin continues to call the conflict in its official communications.

However, air force planes will fly over the Red Square area during the parade, and at the end of it the white, blue and red colors of the Russian national flag will be displayed.

Reuters recalls that, more than four years after the start of the war, Russian forces continue a slow advance in eastern Ukraine.

The Russians are constantly announcing new victories in Ukraine

Senior military officials in Moscow say the invasion forces are advancing on all fronts, and the Defense Ministry frequently announces the capture of villages, including two on Tuesday.

U.S.-brokered talks aimed at bringing a peace deal closer are stalled as Washington is focused on the Middle East conflict.

President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will conclude a peace deal only if it receives the entire Donbas region, consisting of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including some parts it has so far failed to capture. Ukraine rejects any idea of ​​withdrawal from the areas it still controls.