Three-day Russia-Ukraine ceasefire begins as Moscow holds Victory Day parade – Europe live

Pjotr Sauer is the Guardian’s Russian affairs reporter

Vladimir Putin presided over a notably scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square on Saturday, with the ceremony lasting just 45 minutes - roughly half the length of previous years - as security fears and the realities of a grinding war in Ukraine cast a shadow over Russia’s most important secular holiday.

The Russian president struck a defiant tone, invoking the sacrifices of the second world war to rally support for his troops in Ukraine.

“Victory has always been and will always be ours,” he told the crowd, using the celebration to draw his now-familiar – and historically false – parallel between the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany and his invasion of Ukraine.

But the reality on the ground told a different story. The customary display of missiles and armoured vehicles was absent entirely, replaced by a video showcasing Russia’s drone capabilities and nuclear arsenal.

The audience included only a small delegation of foreign leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Laos and Malaysia. They watched a column of North Korean soldiers march across the square, troops from one of Russia’s closest allies who have fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine

Moscow was blanketed in heavy security, with internet services switched off across the city.

Russian authorities openly acknowledged the measures were designed specifically to protect Putin, an admission that underscored how dramatically the calculus of a war Russia once expected to win in weeks has shifted.

It was not until the final hours that it became clear Ukraine would not disrupt the parade, after Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire and prisoner exchange on Friday.

With no victory in sight and no timeline for an end to the war, the mood inside Russia is souring. Mass internet blackouts, the contracting economy and rising inflation have all fuelled public anger, yet Putin shows no signs of compromising on Ukraine.