Russia on Friday (May 9, 2025) celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, as President Vladimir Putin presided over an enormous parade of tanks, missiles and troops by way of Red Square and welcomed over two dozen world leaders — the most since Moscow despatched troops into Ukraine.
Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9, is the nation’s most necessary secular vacation. The parade and different festivities underline Moscow’s efforts to challenge its international energy and cement the alliances it has solid whereas in search of a counterbalance to the West amid the battle in Ukraine that’s grinding by way of a fourth yr.
Friday’s parade was the largest since Russia despatched troops into Ukraine in 2022 and drew the most international leaders to Moscow in a decade, together with high-profile company like Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sat subsequent to Mr. Putin, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their attendance underscored how Putin has tried to emphasise the failure of the West to show Russia into a world pariah.
“It’s again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,” stated Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre.
“Russia is standing tall among the so-called global majority,” Mr. Gabuev said, adding that the attendance of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico showed that “Russia has allies even within the Western camp” and marked a major public relations victory for Mr. Putin.
World War II is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it calls the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.
Addressing the crowd in Red Square, Mr. Putin praised Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory.”
Mr. Putin, who has ruled Russia for 25 years, has turned Victory Day into a key pillar of his tenure and has tried to use it to justify his action in Ukraine.
For Mr. Putin, Victory Day celebrations have develop into “a civic faith that reinforces patriotism, nationalism, nostalgia, and justifies each his repressive regime at residence and Russia’s more and more expansionist overseas coverage overseas, notably together with in the direction of its neighbors,” Mr. Gabuev stated.
The parade featured over 11,500 troops and greater than 180 army autos, together with tanks, armoured infantry autos and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia’s nuclear may, large Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles launchers rolled throughout Red Square. Also amongst the weaponry on show had been drones carried on army vans, a tribute to their pivotal function in the battle.
Fighter jets of Russian air pressure’s aerobatic groups flew by in shut formation, adopted by jets that trailed smoke in the colors of the nationwide flag.
Afterward, Mr. Putin shook palms with Russian generals who led the troops onto Red Square and spoke to medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.
Last month, Mr. Putin thanked North Korea for preventing alongside Russian troops in opposition to Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.
The Russian and North Korean statements emphasised their increasing army partnership, particularly after Russia stated its troops have absolutely reclaimed the Kursk area that Ukrainian forces seized in a shock incursion final yr. Ukraine denied the declare.
Victory Day festivities this yr had been overshadowed by Ukrainian drone assaults concentrating on Moscow and extreme disruptions at the capital’s airports. Aeroflot on Wednesday cancelled greater than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the army repelled Ukrainian drone assaults on the capital.
Russian authorities tightened safety forward of the parade and cellphone web outages had been reported amid digital countermeasures geared toward foiling extra potential drone assaults.
Military parades and different festivities had been additionally held in scores of different cities throughout Russia amid tight safety. As a historic tribute, Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg symbolically regained its Soviet-era title of Leningrad for a day Friday and Volgograd quickly reverted to Stalingrad, because it was identified throughout World War II.
Mr. Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire beginning May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, however warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any assaults. Moscow has been reluctant to simply accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms provides to Ukraine and Kyiv’s mobilisation effort, situations Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.
Ukrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes Friday that killed not less than two folks in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas and broken buildings. A Russian drone additionally struck a civilian automobile in Zaporizhzhia, critically injuring a person and likewise wounding his spouse.
As the parade and different festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officers met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a particular tribunal to prosecute Russian officers accused of conflict crimes.
“Russia needs to feel our common and, most importantly, growing strength,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, addressing the Lviv assembly. He emphasised the want for Russia to be held accountable, including that “this is the moral duty of Europe and of everyone in the world who values human life.”
“I’m sure that this tribunal will allow for the fight against impunity against all war crimes that have been committed during this war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine,” stated French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
Russian authorities have fiercely denied allegations of conflict crimes.
Ms. Barrot additionally stated European allies have agreed on one other bundle of sanctions in opposition to Russia.
Standing alongside prime Ukrainian authorities officers in Lviv, EU overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas stated the tribunal’s launch will imply that “no one might be left unpunished for the crimes dedicated.”
Most of Europe marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8.
Published – May 09, 2025 08:13 pm IST
