Russia celebrates its Victory Day on May 9, marking the triumph of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in World War II. It is the fifth time Vladimir Putin presides over the parade in Moscow’s Red Square since the president launched his “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, an invasion whose end is not in sight in the near future. It will be an event without the display of force seen in previous years: the threat of a Ukrainian sabotage hovered over the Russian capital. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a three-day truce between the two sides that will last until Monday inclusive.
However, new Ukrainian missiles and drones forced Russia to suspend the parade of tanks and nuclear missiles this Saturday, and the official list of foreign leaders is sparse. Of the seven heads of state who will accompany Putin in the stands, three lead territories not recognized by the international community and only one, Belarusian Alexandr Lukashenko, represents one of the countries that the Kremlin considers within its sphere of influence.
Although speculations about a Ukrainian attack on Victory Day date back to 2023, since Kiev changed the course of the war, the Kremlin had managed to keep its parade relatively unchanged until now. However, this year the event will not feature military vehicles for the first time since 2007, nor will Russian armed forces cadets march. And, weather permitting, there will be a more modest aerial display than in other years.
The Ministry of Defense has not revealed the composition of the parade. In 2025, more than 11,000 military personnel and 200 vehicles marched to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Among those attending in the front row of that display were the presidents of China, Xi Jinping; Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; and Venezuela, the late Nicolás Maduro.
This year only seven leaders are confirmed, including the heads of territories not recognized by the international community such as the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, plus the top leader of the Republika Srpska. Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko and Kazakh President Kasim-Yomart Tokayev are the only leaders of former Soviet countries present, the nations Putin considers within his sphere of influence. They will be joined by the president of Laos and the king of Malaysia.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will not attend the parade in Red Square but will lay a bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and deliver a message from Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to Putin, according to Bratislava. The Russian leader will receive in Moscow one of the few partners he has left in the European Union on the same day that Péter Magyar is sworn in as prime minister in Hungary, thus ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year alliance with Russia.
Victory Day is a date marked in red on the calendars of Russians and the Kremlin. For citizens, because of the enormous suffering their families endured during the German invasion. For Putinism, because it tries to link the fight against German Nazism with its confrontation with Ukraine and Europe as a whole historical entity. Thus, with this supposed threat, it justifies its internal repression and territorial ambitions.
The fear of an attack and the need for vehicles at the front will also affect events planned in other territories. At least 26 regions of Russia have canceled their parades, including provinces near the battlefield, and dozens more will hold them in a reduced format without vehicles.
Moscow is the jewel of its elite and authorities have reinforced security to the extreme. Vehicles with mounted heavy machine guns circulate through the center and the armed forces have deployed several rings of anti-aircraft systems in the city. Pantsir rocket launcher units and radar domes populate rooftops in plain sight.
Additionally, Muscovites will notice the consequences of the war closer than ever in this year’s celebration. Authorities have blocked internet and SMS messages on all mobiles during this Saturday. The Federal Security Service (FSB) wanted to apply this total blackout from May 5, but the collapse of payment systems, social networks, taxi services, and other basic services stirred citizens’ tempers on the first day.
With the president’s popularity declining, his administration has convinced security forces to limit the internet blackout to one day only, although restrictions will not spare even Kremlin-friendly websites.
To the relief of the Russian elite, their capital has lived relatively apart from the war until now, unlike the suffering Ukrainian cities and Russian border regions. A Ukrainian drone barely damaged the roof of one of the Kremlin palaces in May 2023 and other devices reached its financial district at night without causing casualties. The number of civilian deaths in Moscow is around half a dozen since 2022, although there are no official data. By comparison, more than 70 civilians have died in Ukraine in the first week of May alone, according to the UN.
