![]() Western officials have suggested that the Kremlin might use the Victory Day parade to declare an all-out war on Ukraine or to announce general mobilization. Numbers are difficult to verify, but some estimates have the Russian death toll since the start of the invasion at over 20,000. Ukraine claims "colossal" Russian losses have taken place during their effort to fully capture the Donbas region. "The reduction of the parade shows that the Russian government is both aware of the losses and is trying to manage how to deal with them," said Aglaya Snetkov, an expert in Russian foreign policy at University College London, in an interview with The Moscow Times. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP PhotoĪn expert told The Moscow Times that the scaling down is linked to Russia's military failings in the deadly invasion of Ukraine. Russian military helicopters fly over Red Square during a dress rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, May 7, 2022. There will be only 129 military vehicles and 10,000 personnel, compared to about 191 military vehicles and about 12,000 military personnel in 2021, according to information published by Russia's Defense Ministry, per The Moscow Times. The annual parade through Red Square, which marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, is usually a showpiece of Russian military power.īut Forbes reported that this year's slimmed-down affair, due to take place on Monday, will more likely highlight the country's military weakness in Ukraine. Russia has scaled down its May 9 Victory Day military parade by almost 35%, according to Forbes. This year, the slimmed-down parade will show that Russia is aware of losses in Ukraine, per The Moscow Times. Victory Day, which marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, is meant to showcase Russian military strength. Russia has scaled down its May 9 Victory Day military parade by almost 35%. Tian Bing/China News Service via Getty Images Zelensky said later in his nightly video address that the school attack showed “Russia has forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War II.Russian officers attend a rehearsal of the Victory Day parade on in Moscow, Russia. “Decades after World War II, darkness has returned to Ukraine, and it has become black and white again," he said, in a monochrome social media video shot before a bombed-out apartment block. Zelensky also marked the end of the 1939-1945 war by comparing Ukraine’s battle for national survival to the region’s war of resistance against its former Nazi occupiers. “Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours," Putin said. Putin has sought to legitimise the invasion by comparing it with the previous struggle against Nazism and the national pride it brought. Putin seeks to justify a war that has gone on far longer - and at far higher cost - than expected. Far from liberating Europe, Russia has waged months of war against its neighbour Ukraine and is devoid of any real form of military victory that it can celebrate. ![]() This year, the annual event has taken a significance of its own amid the Ukraine crisis. Huge intercontinental ballistic missiles will be towed for official review through Moscow’s Red Square, and a planned flyover will feature fighter jets in a “Z" formation showing support for the war. Putin is expected to flaunt Russia’s military might during the symbolically important event. Putin’s address to the nation on Victory Day is expected to be the most watched event in the country. However, the Victory Day comes as the Russia-Ukraine war enters its third month and speculations are rife about what President Vladimir Putin would say in his address. Russia will celebrate the annual Victory Day on Monday marking the victory over Nazi Germany doing the second world war in 1945.
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