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Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre foreground, attends a ceremony to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall inMoscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Alexander Nemenov\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Alexander Nemenov\/AP<\/p>\n
Russian servicemen attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.<\/p>\n
Alexander Zemlianichenko\/AP<\/p>\n
North Korea’s servicemen attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Maxim Shipenkov\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Maxim Shipenkov\/AP<\/p>\n
Russia’s Su-25 jet aircraft release smoke in the colours of the Russian state flag during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during the World War II. (Shamil Zhumatov\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Shamil Zhumatov\/AP<\/p>\n
Russian servicemen march as they attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Saturday, May 9, 2026, during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany during World War II.<\/p>\n
Pavel Bednyakov\/AP<\/p>\n
MOSCOW (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II \u2014 a show that didn’t include heavy weapons for the first time in nearly two decades.<\/p>\n
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Security was tight in Moscow as Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, which was scaled down even as a U.S.-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.<\/p>\n
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Putin, in power for more than a quarter-century, has used Victory Day, Russia\u2019s most important secular holiday, to showcase the country\u2019s military might and rally support for his military action in Ukraine, now in its fifth year.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the parade, Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring that they \u201cface an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of NATO,” and are fighting for a \u201cjust cause.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictory has always been and will be ours,\u201d Putin said, as columns of troops lined up on Red Square. \u201cThe key to success is our moral strength, courage and valor, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in a notable shift this year, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy equipment, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.<\/p>\n
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Officials explained the sudden change of format by the \u201ccurrent operational situation\u201d and said that additional security measures have been taken in response to the threat of Ukrainian attacks. State television commentators said that the heavy weaponry was more needed at the battlefield in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
For the first time, Saturday’s parade featured troops from North Korea, a tribute to Pyongyang that sent its soldiers to fight alongside Moscow forces to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.<\/p>\n
Earlier ceasefires failed to hold <\/p>\n
Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a truce that was supposed to begin on May 6, but neither of them held as the parties traded blame for continuing attacks.<\/p>\n
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U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that Russia and Ukraine have bowed to his request for a ceasefire running Saturday through Monday and an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the \u201cbeginning of the end\u201d of the war.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy, who said earlier this week that the Russian authorities \u201cfear drones may buzz over Red Square\u201d on May 9, followed up on Trump’s statement by issuing a decree mockingly permitting Russia to hold its Victory Day celebrations on Saturday, declaring Red Square temporarily off-limits for Ukrainian strikes.<\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off Zelenskyy\u2019s decree as a \u201csilly joke.\u201d \u201cWe don\u2019t need anyone\u2019s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,\u201d Peskov told reporters.<\/p>\n
Victory Day remains a rare point of consensus in Russia<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s bigger and better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 1,000-kilometer (over 600-mile) front line. Ukraine has hit back with increasingly efficient long-range attacks, striking Russian energy facilities, manufacturing plants and military depots. It has developed drones capable of reaching targets over 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles) deep into Russia, far beyond its capabilities before 2022.<\/p>\n
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Russian authorities warned that if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Saturday\u2019s festivities, Russia will carry out a \u201cmassive missile strike on the center of Kyiv.\u201d The Russian Defense Ministry warned the civilian population there and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of \u201cthe need to leave the city promptly.\u201d The EU said its diplomats wouldn\u2019t leave the Ukrainian capital despite Russian threats.<\/p>\n
Putin has used Victory Day celebrations to encourage national pride and underline Russia\u2019s position as a global power. The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in 1941-45 in what it calls the Great Patriotic War, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche and remains a rare point of consensus in the nation\u2019s divisive history under Communist rule.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe celebrate it with feelings of pride and love for our country, with understanding of our shared duty to defend the interests and future of our Motherland,\u201d Putin said at the parade.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur soldiers suffered colossal losses, made a colossal sacrifice in the name of freedom and dignity of the peoples of Europe, became the embodiment of courage and nobility, fortitude and humanity, and crowned themselves with the great glory of a grandiose victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved a broad array of heavy weapons \u2014 from armored vehicles to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles \u2014 every year since 2008. Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, but this time many of them have also been pared down or even canceled altogether for security reasons.<\/p>\n
The authorities on Saturday ordered restrictions on all mobile internet access and text messaging services in the Russian capital, citing the need to ensure public safety. The government has methodically tightened internet censorship and established increasingly stringent controls over online activities, causing rumblings and rare public expressions of discontent.<\/p>\n
Merz criticizes Fico’s trip to Moscow <\/p>\n
Malaysia\u2019s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Laos President Thongloun Sisoulith, Kazakhstan\u2019s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Belarus\u2019 authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko attended the festivities in the Russian capital.<\/p>\n
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Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, a European Union member, laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial just outside the Kremlin walls but stayed away from the Red Square parade. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Fico\u2019s trip, saying, “I deeply regret this, and we will discuss his visit to Moscow with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking at a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin, Fico bemoaned what he called a new \u201cIron Curtain\u201d in Europe that hampered trade, and emphasized the importance of Russia’s energy supplies to Slovakia. Putin hailed the Slovak leader for conducting a \u201csovereign\u201d foreign policy and honoring the memory of fallen Red Army soldiers.<\/p>\n
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Fico informed Putin about his discussions with Zelenskyy but didn’t convey any message from the Ukrainian leader.<\/p>\n
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