Joined by North Korean generals and the leaders of China and Brazil, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany with a Red Square military parade designed to place Moscow at the vanguard of a rising, non-Western world order.
The parade — at one point featuring drones used in Ukraine being trucked past the stands to the tune of a military band — punctuated a geopolitical moment for Mr. Putin in which Moscow’s global fortunes seem to be rising thanks to the Russia-friendly approach taken by President Trump.
But despite Mr. Trump’s apparent openness to dealing with Mr. Putin, no senior American officials were known to be in attendance at the Victory Day parade, the annual patriotic high point on Russia’s calendar. The two leaders congratulated each other via aides, the Kremlin said, according to Russian state media. Instead, Mr. Putin was joined by more than 20 foreign leaders from countries that largely position themselves as neutral or hostile to the West.
During the parade, Russian state television showed Mr. Putin bantering with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, seated next to him. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia were also in attendance. Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia was the only leader from a European Union country. Afterward, the television cameras followed Mr. Putin as he shook hands with North Korean generals, who saluted him in their medal-spangled dress uniforms.
The Kremlin has sought to show the large number of foreign dignitaries as evidence of Russia’s global clout despite Western efforts to isolate Mr. Putin after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trade with China has helped keep Russia’s economy afloat, while North Korean troops helped Russia drive Ukrainian troops out of the swath of Russian territory that Ukraine captured last year.
In a speech at the parade, Mr. Putin referred only briefly to the continuing war in Ukraine, saying that Russia has been engaged in a “righteous fight,” and that “the whole country, society and people support the participants of the special military operation,” using the phrase the Kremlin uses to describe the war.
Speaking from stands fit with a large roof apparently designed to protect from drone attacks, Mr. Putin linked the country’s past victories with its current conflicts. A regiment of 1,500 Russian troops taking part in the war marched through the square.
“Our fathers bequeathed to us to firmly defend our national interests, our thousand-year-old history, culture and traditional values,” said Mr. Putin, whose father fought in the world war.
But three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the display of military might did not reflect Russia’s record on the current battlefield. The country’s military has not achieved a decisive victory in Ukraine, and has made only incremental gains in recent months. The Russian economy has also been slowing because of falling oil prices and interest rates that have been kept high as the country tries to tame inflation.
The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, did not attend the parade, and North Korean troops did not march through the square as many had expected they would. Several North Korean generals watched the parade from the stands. At the end of the parade, Mr. Putin approached them and could be heard saying “thank you very much,” an apparent reference to North Korea’s role in Kursk. Image People in red and navy blue military attire near red and yellow flags. Russian service members participating in the parade. The event is being used to highlight Russia’s past glories and justify the war with Ukraine.Credit...Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
Overall, more than 11,500 servicemen and women took part in the parade, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Among them was a regiment of Chinese troops, and troops from some Moscow-friendly former Soviet nations.
In recent decades, the May 9 Victory Day holiday has served as a rare, unifying commemoration in Russia and across the former Soviet Union, given that some 27 million Soviets perished in World War II. But Mr. Putin has stoked divisions by trying to use the Soviet triumph in 1945 to legitimize his invasion of Ukraine, where Russia, the Kremlin falsely claims, is fighting “Nazis.”
Heavy-handed security measures were introduced across Moscow on Friday; the entire city center was blocked for traffic and metro stations were shut down in the vicinity of the Kremlin. Access to the internet has been sporadic, including through landlines. Many in Russia feared that Ukraine could use one of its long-distance drones to strike the city on the day of the parade, especially after a Ukrainian drone attack forced the closure of all four major Moscow airports earlier this week.
Friday’s parade was the biggest since the invasion of Ukraine, according to numbers provided by the Russian Defense Ministry. More than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, howitzers and nuclear missile launchers, rolled through the square, the ministry said. Last year’s parade featured only one tank — a Soviet-era model — along with other military equipment.
This year’s parade ended with a flyover of Russian jets.
parades are kinda cringe regardless of what they're for.
It would be funny if Putin changed it to a reggae festival next year. Or a chowderfest.
What would you do?