The annual Victory Day parade in Russia on May 9 was a depressing event. Putin attended and gave a 10-minute speech where he mostly talked about the Nazis. He also said, “A real war has been unleashed against our homeland,” as if Russia were the one under attack. A parade of approximately 8,000 military personnel from various branches marched. Remarkably, the regular forces were absent and instead teenage cadets took their place. There was no flyover, as concerns over Ukrainian drones (or more likely, Russian partisans) forced this cancellation. And only one tank was seen, a T-34 relic from World War II. The whole show lasted about 30-40 minutes.
Source: Times of Moscow
While the military parade passed off without incident, Russia’s celebrations to mark the 78th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazism were muted due to heightened security concerns following a drone attack on the Kremlin last week and intense fighting in Ukraine ahead of an impending counter. -offensive by kyiv forces.
The Kremlin has traditionally used Victory Day – a national holiday – for explosive events that promote patriotic unity and showcase the country’s military might.
But military parades have been canceled in more than 20 Russian cities this year and not a single march of the Immortal Regiment – organized in memory of those killed in World War II and usually attended by millions – will take place.
Tellingly, they did not allow the march because allowing parents to show their sons and husbands who died this year could have produced an “undesirable incident”.
The military parade in Red Square brought together thousands of Russian troops and equipment, including the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and the S-400 surface-to-air missile system, but it was significantly smaller than in previous years .
The only tank to appear was a WWII T-34 and the part of the parade involving military vehicles lasted less than five minutes.
About 8,000 soldiers marched in Red Square, the fewest since 2008, according to calculations by the independent media Agentstvo.
Ordinary Russians, however, took this embarrassment head-on.
“It’s weak. There are no tanks,” Yelena Orlova said, watching the vehicles roll down Moscow’s Novy Arbat Avenue after leaving Red Square. “We’re upset, but it’s okay; it will be better in the future.
No hover. No planes or helicopters, and just a very old tank.
Ukrainian bloggers ridiculed the sad spectacle without mercy, of course.
And a big thumbs up from a former US general in the Ukrainian Ministry of Trolling… uh, Defense.