Russia Scales Back Victory Day Parade Amid Ukraine War Demands

One word dominates Red Square right now: Victory.

The word Pobeda stares down from giant red banners. It flashes across video screens. Nearby, people take selfies beside an art installation that spells out the word.

Soldiers rehearse on the square, blocked off by metal barriers, for the annual Victory Day parade that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Russia's national idea, built under President Vladimir Putin, centers on the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two. May 9 has become the country's most important national holiday.

This year, the May 9 parade is scaled back. For the first time in nearly two decades, no military hardware will appear on Red Square: no tanks, no ballistic missiles. Just soldiers.

The Kremlin's approach to remembering the past reflects the present. It signals that Russia's war on Ukraine is not going to plan.

"Our tanks are busy right now," Russian MP Yevgeny Popov said. "They are fighting. We need them more on the battlefield than on Red Square."

"But with the war in its fifth year," the reporter suggested, "not only has Russia not secured victory, but under pressure from Ukraine you're scaling back the parade. Some would say that's embarrassing."

"What other choice do we have?" Popov replied. "NATO countries, Ukraine and Great Britain's weapons, your king and your prime minister, are threatening us."

President Putin chose the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

More than four years later, the Kremlin continues the war while accusing the West of fueling the conflict.

The war is drawing closer to home.

On Tuesday, two people died and more than 30 suffered injuries in a long-range Ukrainian missile and drone strike on the Russian city of Cheboksary. The night before, a drone broke through Moscow's air defenses and hit a luxury high-rise apartment four miles from the Kremlin. No one was hurt, but an upper floor sustained extensive damage.

Officials cite the threat of Ukrainian drones over Red Square to justify cutting back this year's parade. President Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, mentioned the "terrorist threat" from Ukraine. Russia's defense ministry warned of a "retaliatory, massive missile strike" on central Kyiv if Moscow comes under attack on May 9.

Off Red Square, Russians offered mixed views on the lack of tanks at the Victory Day parade.

"There is a safety issue," Sergei said. "But parading our military hardware shows our strength on the world stage. Perhaps we should be displaying something."

"I understand it would be foolish to showcase hardware in case something happens during the parade," Yulia said. "On the other hand, this means that we are afraid of something. And that's not great, either."

"The parade, of course, is a symbol," Vladimir said. "But if circumstances don't allow it to take place in full, we'll have to wait a year for that."

A scaled-back parade carries its own symbolism: a country that has not won in Ukraine after more than four years of war. In January, the conflict passed a milestone. Russia's war on Ukraine has lasted longer than the Soviet Union's fight against Hitler's Germany, known here as the Great Patriotic War from 1941 to 1945.

Recent polls, including from state-run agencies, show President Putin's domestic approval rating declining.

Late last year, Putin appeared on TV in military fatigues several times, discussing the Ukraine war with generals and projecting confidence. Viewers have seen far less of Commander-in-Chief Putin this year.

Conversations with Russians point to growing war fatigue, worries over living costs and strong irritation with recent state restrictions on internet access.

Authorities have warned of mobile internet limits in Moscow on Victory Day for security reasons.

Officials say digital shutdowns, which have affected many Russian towns and cities in recent months, aim to block Ukrainian drone attacks and sabotage. The measures remain deeply unpopular nationwide.

The authorities show little concern over that.

"It's not your business, with all respect, what we are doing with our internet," MP Popov said. "It would be better to be with no internet than to be killed by a Ukrainian missile or drone."

In the village of Rublyovo near Moscow, schoolchildren gathered at the local World War Two memorial. They laid red carnations to honor villagers killed in the Great Patriotic War. The Red Square parade may be scaled back, but ceremonies across Russia remember the 27 million Soviet citizens killed in the war.

Yet more than four years into this war, victory continues to elude Russia.