After Russia attacked Ukraine with its latest barrage of cruise missiles, Vladimir Putin made an angry speech to mark Victory Day in Moscow, hitting out at Western countries for starting what he claims is a “real war” against Russia.
However, in a sign of the toll his invasion of Ukraine has taken on Russia’s forces, the annual military parade across Red Square was pared back, as Moscow throws manpower and weaponry at the frontlines following an underwhelming winter campaign and an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.
“Today, civilisation is once again at a decisive turning point,” Mr Putin said as he again sought to defend his invasion of Ukraine by painting Russia as having been cornered by “Western global elites”. “A real war has been unleashed against our motherland,” he said.
The most abiding image of the parade, which took place as part of the annual commemorations of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in the Second World War, was of a single T-34 Soviet-era tank rolling down the road, near the start of what is usually a show of Russian military might in an annual event that has become a centrepiece of Putin’s time in office. The T-34 has traditionally opened the display, but it is usually accompanied by more modern battle tanks, such as the T-14 Armata and the T-74, both of which have been used in Ukraine.
The parade included some 8,000 troops – the lowest number since 2008. Even in 2020, the year of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the procession featured some 13,000 soldiers, and in 2022, 11,000 troops took part. The overall number of vehicles could be measured in dozens, while 2021’s event is believed to have featured close to 200. Western nations have said that Russia has had to raid its stockpiles of tanks for the frontline, but the lack of modern hardware on display was stark. There was also no flypast of military jets, and the event lasted less than the usual hour.
“This is weak. There are no tanks,” said Yelena Orlova, watching the vehicles rumble down Moscow’s Novy Arbat Avenue after leaving Red Square. “We’re upset, but that’s all right; it will be better in the future.”
Moscow has said that the events were scaled back as a result of security concerns over what it has claimed was a attempted Ukrainian strike on the Kremlin last week. The accusation was met with scepticism by Ukraine’s Western allies, and a flat denial from Kyiv. Analysts have suggested that the reduction in pomp has more to do with an attempt to avoid drawing attention to the scale of Russian losses in Ukraine.
As for Mr Putin’s fiery 10-minute address, it went over much of the same ground as all of the president’s speeches in recent months – painting his invasion of Ukraine as necessary to defend Russia against a Western threat.
“Our heroic ancestors proved that there is nothing stronger, more powerful and more reliable than our unity. There is nothing in the world stronger than our love for the motherland,” Mr Putin said.
The Russian president has often used patriotic rhetoric that harks back to the Second World War in an effort to rally his citizens and forces, with 9 May being one of the most important dates in the Russian political calendar. Mr Putin tried to strike a rousing note in his latest address, saying that all of Russia was praying for its heroes at the front. He concluded it with a cheer for “Russia, for our valiant armed forces, for victory!”
As for the airstrikes, Ukraine said its air defences had shot down 23 of 25 Russian cruise missiles fired chiefly at the capital Kyiv overnight, and that there were no reported casualties. Moscow has stepped up such attacks in the run-up to Victory Day, and ahead of the anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, which Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said will be launched “soon”. It was the second night in a row of major Russian airstrikes, and the fifth so far this month.
“As at the front, the plans of the aggressor failed,” said Sergei Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.
The Kremlin clearly feels a need to keep morale high, with the Ukraine invasion having become a war of attrition, particularly in the bloody fighting around the eastern city of Bakhmut. But Mr Putin’s message was undermined by a new profanity-laced tirade from the boss of Russia’s Wagner mercenaries – the group that has been at the forefront of the battle for Bakhmut. Yevgeny Prigozhin had threatened in recent days to withdraw his forces over a lack of ammunition and support, and on Tuesday he appeared to do so again.
“A combat order came yesterday which clearly stated that if we leave our positions [in Bakhmut], it will be regarded as treason against the motherland,” Mr Prigozhin said in an audio message. “[But] if there is no ammunition, then we will leave our positions and be the ones asking who is really betraying the motherland.”
Mr Zelensky said Moscow had failed to capture Bakhmut despite a self-imposed deadline to give Mr Putin a battlefield trophy in time for Victory Day. The Ukrainian leader hosted the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in Kyiv on Tuesday, in a meeting that served as an opportunity to play up Kyiv’s close ties to its Western allies. “Our efforts for a united Europe, for security and peace, need to be as strong as Russia’s desire to destroy our security, our freedom, our Europe,” Mr Zelensky said at their joint news conference.
What is known in Russia as Victory Day is traditionally marked as Europe Day by the EU, commemorating the post-war integration movement that led to the founding of the European Union. Mr Zelensky signed a decree to establish the day as a celebration of peace and unity in Europe. He also submitted a bill to the Ukrainian parliament to make the previous day, 8 May, a “Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism” in Ukraine.
“Kyiv, as the capital of Ukraine, is the beating heart of today’s European values,” Ms Von der Leyen said at the news conference. “Courageously, Ukraine is fighting for the ideals of Europe that we celebrate today.”
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg, said: “Putin is parading his soldiers, tanks and missiles today. We must not be intimidated by such power plays! Let’s remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine – for as long as it takes!”
Meanwhile, a UK-led group of European countries has asked for expressions of interest to supply Ukraine with missiles with a range of up to 190 miles (300 km). The call for responses from manufacturers who could provide such missiles was included in a notice posted by the International Fund for Ukraine – a funding mechanism set up by Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden to expedite the provision of weapons to Kyiv. The notice was posted last week, but was reported on Tuesday.
Asked at a think tank event in Washington about Britain’s policy on supplying fighter jets and long-range missiles to Ukraine, British foreign secretary James Cleverly declined to elaborate on specific plans. But he said it was important to keep looking at ways to “enhance and speed up the support we give to Ukraine”.
“If we’re saving stuff up for a rainy day, this is the rainy day,” he said.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
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