Tight security as Moscow marks Victory Day with Red Square parade

Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Security was tight in Moscow as Mr Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.

Speaking at the parade, Mr Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring that they “face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of Nato” and are fighting for a “just cause”.

“Victory has always been and will be ours,” Mr Putin said as columns of troops lined up on Red Square.

“The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valour, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge.”

But this year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.

Officials said the sudden change of format was due to the “current operational situation” and pointed to the threat of Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the authorities have taken “additional security measures”.

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.

Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a truce which was supposed to begin on May 6, but neither of them held as the parties traded blame for continuing attacks.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have bowed to his request for a ceasefire running from Saturday to Monday and an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war.

Mr Zelensky, who said earlier this week that the Russian authorities “fear drones may buzz over Red Square” on May 9, followed up on Mr 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.

Mr Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, shrugged off Mr Zelensky’s decree as a “silly joke”.

“We don’t need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,” Mr Peskov told reporters.

Russia’s bigger and better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 600-mile front line.

Russian authorities warned that if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Saturday’s festivities, Russia will carry out a “massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv”.

The Russian Defence Ministry warned the civilian population there and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of “the need to leave the city promptly”. The EU said its diplomats would not leave the Ukrainian capital despite Russian threats.

Mr Putin has used Victory Day celebrations to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s 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’s divisive history under Communist rule.

“Our 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.”

Mr Putin told reporters after the parade that Mr Trump offered to broker a ceasefire after Russia informed the US and others that it would launch a massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv fraught with collateral damage if Ukraine attempted to disrupt Saturday’s festivities.

“We just described the situation to our friends, colleagues and partners: We don’t have any intention to exacerbate or worsen relations with anyone, but it could happen because all control and decision-making centres in Kyiv are located close to diplomatic missions,” Mr Putin said.

“When we started such a dialogue with the US administration, we warned them about this, pointed out the possible consequences and asked them to do everything necessary to ensure the security of their diplomatic mission.”

He noted that Russia immediately welcomed Mr Trump’s offer that was driven by humanitarian motives and “respect to our common victory over Nazism”.

Mr Zelensky has proposed to meet Mr Putin to negotiate a peace deal, but dismissed the Russian leader’s suggestion that he come to Moscow. On Saturday, Mr Putin said he could meet Mr Zelensky in another country, but only to endorse a comprehensive accord.

“A meeting in a third country is also possible, but only after a peace treaty aimed at a long-term historic perspective is finalised,” Mr Putin told reporters.

“This should be a final deal, not the negotiations.”

Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved a broad array of heavy weapons — from armoured vehicles to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles — 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 cancelled altogether for security reasons.

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.

Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Laos President Thongloun Sisoulith, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko attended the festivities in the Russian capital.

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 criticised Mr Fico’s trip, saying: “I deeply regret this, and we will discuss his visit to Moscow with him.”

Speaking at a meeting with Mr Putin in the Kremlin, Mr Fico bemoaned what he called a new “Iron Curtain” in Europe that hampered trade, and emphasised the importance of Russia’s energy supplies to Slovakia.

Mr Putin hailed the Slovak leader for conducting a “sovereign” foreign policy and honouring the memory of fallen Red Army soldiers.