IN PICS | Russia holds scaled-down Victory Day parade on Red Square under tight security

Russia staged its most subdued Victory Day parade in years on Saturday amid fears of Ukrainian attacks, as Moscow’s campaign in Ukraine remains unresolved more than four years into Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. The May 9 parade on Red Square marked 81st anniversary of Russia’s most sacred national holiday, honoring the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and commemorating the 27 million Soviet citizens, including many Ukrainians, who died during World War II.

In this picture, Russian servicemen march across Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow.

Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets release smoke in the colours of the Russian tricolour as they fly over Red Square during the Victory Day parade in Moscow. Russia marked the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, though this year’s parade notably featured no tanks or heavy military equipment rolling across Red Square, a sharp contrast to past displays traditionally used to showcase Moscow’s military strength, including nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In this picture, Russia’s MiG-29 fighter jets of the Strizhi (“Swifts”) team and Su-30SM aircraft of the Russkiye Vityazi (“Russian Knights”) aerobatic squadron fly in formation over central Moscow. Instead of a large-scale display of military hardware, weapons such as the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, the Arkhangelsk nuclear submarine, the Peresvet laser system, the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet, the S-500 air defense system, along with drones and artillery, were showcased on giant screens across Red Square and on state television.

Soldiers and sailors, including some who served in Ukraine, marched and cheered as Russian President Vladimir Putin looked on beside Russian veterans near Vladimir Lenin’s Mausoleum. North Korean troops, who fought against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, also took part in the parade.

Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets trail smoke in the colors of the Russian tricolor as they fly over central Moscow during the parade. Fighter jets roared above the Kremlin towers as Putin delivered an eight-minute speech, pledging victory in the war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin refers to as a “special military operation.”

Security was tight in Moscow as Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived to attend the Victory Day military parade on May 9, 2026.

Russian President delivers an eight-minute speech at the military parade. According to Reuters, Putin said: “The great feat of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers carrying out the tasks of the special military operation today. They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And in spite of that, our heroes march forward.”

Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov arriving at the Victory Day parade. Security was tight across Moscow as President Vladimir Putin and several foreign leaders gathered for the scaled-down event, held under a US-brokered three-day ceasefire that eased concerns over possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the celebrations.

Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets fly over central Moscow during the Victory Day parade, reinforcing Russia’s display of military power. Putin, in power for more than a quarter of a century, has long used Victory Day, to showcase military strength and rally support for the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year.

Russian military drummers march across Red Square. US President Donald Trump had announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a ceasefire running from Saturday through Monday, alongside a prisoner exchange, calling it a potential “beginning of the end” of the war. Russian authorities warned that if Ukraine attempts to disrupt the Victory Day celebrations, Moscow would respond with a “massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv.”