A parade marking Victory Day was held on Red Square in Moscow. The event lasted about 45 minutes.
Defense Minister Andrei Belousov reported to Vladimir Putin that the parade was ready to begin. The Kremlin had earlier said that, for the first time in 19 years, the parade would take place without military hardware because of what it called Kyiv’s “terrorist activity.”
Putin’s speech
In his address, Putin congratulated military personnel, participants in the war against Ukraine, and the parade’s guests on Victory Day, calling it a “sacred, bright, and most important holiday.” He said Russia preserves the memory of the Great Patriotic War as “a matter of honor,” and that, in his words, the Soviet people made the निर्णisive contribution to defeating Nazism, saved their country and the world, and restored sovereignty to states that had capitulated to Hitler’s Germany and become accomplices in its crimes.
Putin also recalled that 2026 will mark 85 years since the start of the Great Patriotic War. According to him, the Nazis planned to destroy culture and historical heritage and to commit “genocide against the entire multinational Soviet people.” He added that the Soviet people “stood like a wall in the enemy’s path,” and that victory was “won, suffered for, and achieved” by the efforts of both the front and the rear.
He then announced a minute of silence. In the final part of his speech, Putin turned to Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying Russian troops are confronting an “aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc,” but are “moving forward.”
“I firmly believe that our cause is just. We are together. Victory has always been and always will be ours,” Putin said at the end of his remarks.
Participants and parade details
Seated next to Putin in the stands were Alexander Lukashenko, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The parade was commanded by Russian Ground Forces commander-in-chief Andrei Mordvichev, and it was reviewed by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.
For the first time, the event included service members from unmanned systems forces, as well as troops from North Korea.
“Soldiers of the Korean People’s Army, shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen, made a significant contribution to the liberation of the Kursk region from neo-Nazi invaders, showing mass heroism, self-sacrifice, and courage,” it was stated during the parade.
The event ended with marching infantry units. No military hardware appeared in this year’s parade. Spectators were also shown a video featuring drones and nuclear weapons, presenting what were described as examples of Russia’s newest military equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as the nuclear submarines Arkhangelsk and Knyaz Vladimir.
Kremlin statements and security measures
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there had been no attempts to disrupt the Victory Day celebrations. He also said that extending the truce in Ukraine after May 11 had not yet been discussed, replying to a question about whether the Kremlin had seen Donald Trump’s statement that it would be good to prolong the ceasefire.
The day before, Trump announced a three-day truce and a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv supported the proposal.
Ahead of the parade, mobile internet was shut down in central Moscow. Russia’s digital ministry had previously said that access to mobile internet in the capital, including “white lists” and text messages, would be restricted for security reasons.