The annual Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, 2026, to commemorate the Soviet Union's role in the Second World War was a subdued affair compared with previous parades. No armoured vehicles or missile systems featured in the parade due to the "current operational situation". The scaling back of the parade is likely due to the threat posed by Ukrainian unmanned aerial systems and the lack of available military equipment due to the war in Ukraine, the UK Defence Intelligence reports.
The number of foreign political leaders attending was small (five leaders of widely recognized states), and no leader of any major power attended. This contrasted with more than 50 heads of state in 2005, around 30 in 2015, and 27 in 2025. There were also significant mobile internet outages last week in Moscow as part of the counter-UAS measures. The outages also had a significant deleterious effect on economic activity in Moscow.
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Vladimir Putin's speech contained standard lines, portraying the war in Ukraine as a just fight against NATO, and promising eventual victory even though the conflict has now lasted for more than four years. Victory Day parades were also scaled back in other russian towns. In many parts of the country children from kindergartens wearing military uniforms apparently substituted for actual military parades.
It is likely that the low key nature of the parade portrays an image of weakness with an ageing leadership uncertain of how to adequately counter the threat of Ukrainian UAS. There is a realistic possibility that the dismissal of russian Aerospace Forces Commander-in-Chief Viktor Afzalov a few days before the Victory Parade was due to the inability to counter the UAS threat.
As Defense Express previously reported, missile frigates, landing ships, patrol craft, and an intelligence vessel were all targeted during April attacks.
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