Russia to hold a Victory Day parade without military equipment for the 1st time in nearly 2 decades

• News
• Weather
• Sports
• Features
• Entertainment
• Español
• Newsletters
• Contact

Russia's accepted parade marking the decision of Nazi Germany successful World War II volition instrumentality spot adjacent week without tanks, missiles and different subject equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said successful a statement.

It volition beryllium the archetypal clip successful astir 2 decades — and successful Russia's 4-year-old warfare successful Ukraine — that nary subject instrumentality volition rumble done Moscow's Red Square connected May 9, the time Russia celebrates its astir important secular holiday. The Kremlin has utilized it to showcase its subject mightiness and planetary clout, and it is simply a root of patriotic pride.

Victory Day parades connected Red Square person progressive subject instrumentality and assorted weaponry each twelvemonth since 2008. Smaller parades are held elsewhere crossed the country, including successful cities similar St. Petersburg.

The ministry cited the “current operational situation” arsenic a crushed for excluding subject equipment, arsenic good arsenic cadets, from this year's parade connected the 81st day of the victory. Ukraine has launched drone attacks heavy wrong Russia to antagonistic Moscow’s much than 4-year-old invasion.

While the ministry did not elaborate, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov connected Wednesday blamed Ukraine, accusing it of “terrorist activity," successful an evident notation to the drone strikes.

“All measures are being taken to minimize the danger,” helium told reporters.

The parade volition diagnostic “servicemen from higher subject acquisition institutions of each kinds and definite work branches of the Russian Armed Forces" and a accepted subject craft flyover, the ministry said.

World War II remains a uncommon constituent of statement successful the nation’s divisive past nether Communist rule, and the Kremlin has leveraged that sentiment to promote nationalist pridefulness and underline Russia’s presumption arsenic a planetary power.

The Soviet Union mislaid 27 cardinal radical successful what it calls the Great Patriotic War successful 1941-45, an tremendous sacrifice that near a heavy scar successful the nationalist psyche.

President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled Russia for implicit 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a cardinal pillar of his tenure and has tried to usage it to warrant the warfare successful Ukraine.

Last year's parade was the largest since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, and drew the astir planetary leaders to Moscow successful a decade, including high-profile guests similar Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico.

It featured implicit 11,500 troops and much than 180 subject vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery utilized connected the battlefield successful Ukraine, arsenic good arsenic immense Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles and drones carried connected subject trucks. Fighter jets flew implicit Red Square, too.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7, 2025, and authorities blocked cellphone net successful Moscow for respective days to avert Ukrainian drone attacks.

In 2023, the parade was scaled down, with less troops and subject instrumentality connected show and nary flyover.

In the Soviet era, the archetypal Red Square parade marking the decision of Nazi Germany took spot connected June 24, 1945. Then it was held connected May 9 respective times aft that, with the past Soviet-era parade taking spot successful 1990.

After the USSR collapsed, the parades resumed successful 1995. That year, troops and veterans marched done Red Square, and a abstracted parade of subject instrumentality took spot astatine the sprawling Poklonnaya Gora World War II memorial. After that, parades were held each year. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities moved the parade to a aboriginal date, and it was held connected June 24.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.