By Mark Trevelyan
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - Russia will hold a slimmed-down version of its annual parade to celebrate victory in World War Two, without the usual display of weaponry, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, citing an increased threat of Ukrainian attacks.
The May 9 parade on Moscow's Red Square is a highlight of the Russian calendar, commemorating victory over Nazi Germany in a conflict in which the Soviet Union - of which both Russia and Ukraine were part - lost 27 million people.
On recent
anniversaries, Russia has shown off weapons including intercontinental ballistic missiles, and President Vladimir Putin has used the occasion to rally the nation behind the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year.
This year, however, the Defence Ministry said there would be no military equipment on display because of what it called "the current operational situation".
Asked by reporters about the decision, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The Kyiv regime, which is losing ground on the battlefield every day, has now launched full-scale terrorist activity. And therefore... all measures are being taken to minimise the danger."
With U.S.-mediated peace talks stalled as Washington focuses on the conflict with Iran, Russia has claimed incremental advances on the battlefield in recent weeks, while Ukraine has inflicted significant damage on Russian ports and oil refineries.
Ukrainian drones have struck Moscow at intervals throughout the war, and Russia has blamed Kyiv for a series of assassinations and attempted killings of high-ranking military officials in and near the capital. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of those attacks while denying others.
MOCKING COMMENT FROM KREMLIN CRITIC
Peskov noted that this year's event is not a major anniversary - unlike in 2025, when Putin was joined by foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping to celebrate 80 years since the defeat of the Nazis.
But the announcement that the parade would not include weapons drew acerbic comment from Kremlin critics.
"Are they afraid of a mutiny? Or has all the equipment burned up in Ukraine?" Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter who is now on Russia's "foreign agent" list, posted on social media.
John Foreman, a former British defence attache to Moscow, said 11,000 troops and about 150 military vehicles - including tanks, which had been absent in the two previous years - took part in the 2025 parade.
He said the decision not to showcase military equipment this time reflected both battlefield pressures on Russia's army and the fear of presenting an attractive target for Ukraine to attack, given the increasing effectiveness of its deep-strike capabilities.
A lavish victory parade could also attract criticism at a time when no end to the war is in sight, and the Kremlin has been forced to acknowledge widespread public frustration, particularly over large-scale disruption to internet services that Putin has defended on security grounds.
"It's not going well - the mood is not great, there are economic difficulties, they (Russians) see a war with no end," Foreman said in a telephone interview.
News of the scaled-down parade prompted lively discussion among Russians on social media.
In a chat stream on Telegram, one participant said it would be a "very strange parade" without weapons because the whole point was to show adversaries what they would have to contend with if they attacked Russia.
Others suggested the time for a real parade would be when Russia achieved victory.
"But when will that be?" one person asked.
(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London; additional reporting by Ron PopeskiEditing by Gareth Jones)
