The event, dedicated to the 81st anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union (USSR) over Nazi Germany, is scheduled to take place on May 9 in Red Square.
V. Putin used this military parade for propaganda purposes in order to boast about Russia’s military power and justify his bloody war in Ukraine.
During the reign of V. Putin, heavy military equipment appeared in the parade in 2008, when the long-standing tradition of the Soviet Union was revived after a break.
This means that we will not see heavy equipment in Red Square for the first time in almost two decades – since 2007.
“Military schools, cadet corps, as well as a convoy of military equipment will not participate in this year’s parade due to the current operational situation,” the Russian Defense Ministry announced on the Telegram platform late Tuesday.
However, the parade is expected to include representatives from all branches of the armed forces and will also feature videos of soldiers performing tasks at the front.
An air show is also planned.
“During the aviation part of the parade, aircraft of Russian aerobatic flying teams will fly over Red Square, and at the end of the event, Su-25 attack aircraft pilots will paint the sky of Moscow in the colors of the flag of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said.
Last year, more than two dozen world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, came to Moscow to watch the march of thousands of soldiers. Some of them took part in the war in Ukraine and showed off various weaponry, including new tanks and drones.
World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, is the central historical narrative of dictator Vladimir Putin’s quarter-century rule.
Putin has repeatedly invoked his victory over Nazi Germany to justify a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, calling the “Kiev regime” “neo-Nazis” who need to be removed from power.
Ukraine and the West reject this narrative as propaganda and call Russia’s war an illegal territorial grab that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and Moscow seized swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine.
