Moscow’s Victory Day Parade to Be Held Without Military Vehicles for First Time in Nearly 20 Years

By AFP April 29, 2026

Russia will not display military hardware in this year's parade commemorating 81 years since the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

The event, typically marked with a bombastic show of military strength each year, is scheduled for May 9 in Moscow's Red Square.

Several military schools, cadet corps, "as well as the military hardware column, will not be participating in this year's military parade due to the current operational situation," the ministry said on Telegram late Tuesday.

However, the parade is expected to include representatives of all branches of the Armed Forces, as well as videos showing servicemen "carrying out tasks in the special military operation zone," a reference to the war in Ukraine, it said.

An aerial display is also planned.

"During the aviation segment of the parade, aircraft of Russian aerobatic display teams will fly over Red Square, and at the conclusion of the parade, pilots of Su-25 ground attack aircraft will color the skies of Moscow in the colors of the flag of the Russian Federation," the ministry said.

Last year, more than two dozen world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, were in Moscow to watch a procession of thousands of troops — some of whom fought in Ukraine — and an array of weapons, including new tanks and drones.

World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, is the central historical narrative of President Vladimir Putin's quarter-century rule.

Putin has repeatedly invoked victory over Nazi Germany to justify the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, branding the "Kyiv regime" as "neo-Nazis" that need to be removed from power.

Ukraine and the West reject that narrative as propaganda and call Russia's war an illegal land grab that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and seen Moscow seize territory of southern and eastern Ukraine.

Read more about: Victory Day , Ukraine war

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