Russia holds its most modest Victory Day parade in years

Russia held its most modest Victory Day parade in years because of the threat of attack from Ukraine, where victory for Moscow's forces has proven elusive after more than four years of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

The May 9 parade in Red Square marks Russia's most revered 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 perished.

Once used to showcase Russia's vast military might, including intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, this year's parade featured no tanks or other military equipment rolling down the cobblestones of Red Square, Reuters reported.

Soldiers and sailors, some of whom had served in Ukraine, marched and cheered as President Vladimir Putin watched, sitting next to Russian veterans in the gazebo of Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum.

Fighter jets flew over the Kremlin towers.

Putin said he was confident of victory. He welcomed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying they were "facing an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc."

"Victory has always been and will be ours," Putin said in front of columns of soldiers lined up on Red Square.

"The key to success is our moral strength, courage and audacity, our unity and ability to endure everything and overcome every challenge," Putin said.

After Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating unilateral ceasefires they declared in recent days, US President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire from Saturday to Monday, supported by the Kremlin and Kiev. The two sides also agreed to exchange 1.000 prisoners.

"I would like to see it stopped. Russia-Ukraine - it's the worst thing since World War II in terms of lives. Twenty-five thousand young soldiers every month. It's crazy," Trump told reporters in Washington.

He added that he would like to see a "major extension" of the ceasefire. There were no reports of ceasefire violations from either Moscow or Kiev.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has warned that any attempt by Kiev to disrupt Saturday's event would lead to a massive missile strike on the Ukrainian capital. Moscow has told foreign diplomats to evacuate 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, stating that Ukrainian weapons will not target Red Square, Reuters reports.

Security in Moscow was tight. Reuters photos showed soldiers with rifles on trucks and blocked roads around the center of the capital, which, together with the surrounding region, has a population of 22 million.

After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Red Army eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet victory flag was raised over the Reichstag in May 1945.

The unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany took effect at 23:01 p.m. on 8 May 1945, which Britain, the United States and France commemorate as "Victory in Europe Day". In Moscow it was already 9 May, which became "Victory Day" for the Soviet Union in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45.

But this year's parade comes amid a wave of anxiety in Moscow over the final outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.

The war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, left parts 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.

"The crisis is still gradually deepening, but any sharp move can send the economy (and not only the economy) into a tailspin," said Igor Girkin, a jailed pro-war Russian nationalist who has criticized the Kremlin for waging the war, in a post on Telegram.

Girkin, a former Federal Security Service officer, used a naval analogy, saying that Russian leaders are more worried about being thrown out of their cabins than about shipwrecks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week dismissed reports by CNN and other Western media outlets that Putin's security had been beefed up over fears of a coup or assassination. Russian officials have called reports of a coup plot nonsense.

CNN cited an unnamed European intelligence agency as saying that Putin's former defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, is seen as a potential coup leader.

Security Council Secretary Shoigu, who attended an online Security Council meeting chaired by Putin on Friday, was at the parade, sitting next to some of Putin's most powerful officials.