Russia’s Victory Day Parade: What to Know.

President Vladimir V. Putin presided over a Victory Day parade on Pink Sq. on Friday, a grand celebration of the Soviet triumph towards Nazi Germany 80 years in the past that’s getting used to focus on Russia’s previous glories and justify the conflict with Ukraine.

Sitting with Mr. Putin in stands erected in entrance of Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum have been the leaders of China, Brazil and greater than 20 different states, an effort by the Kremlin to showcase how international locations of the “international south” intention to current a counterweight to the West.

They watched a procession of hundreds of troopers, and dozens of armored autos, tanks and nuclear missile launchers. A regiment of Chinese language troopers marched in Pink Sq. earlier than the Kremlin’s crimson partitions.

Why is that this yr’s parade vital?

The parade was anticipated to be the most important since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia welcomed the very best variety of overseas dignitaries since 2015 and their participation or absence have been seen as barometers of their defiance or allegiance to the West.

On the finish of April, Mr. Putin introduced a three-day unilateral cease-fire in Ukraine, beginning on Could 8 to mark the celebrations. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine rejected the proposal, calling it a “theatrical present,” and proposed a 30-day truce that might permit for what he known as significant negotiations to finish the conflict. Mr. Zelensky additionally stated that Ukraine would provide no safety ensures to visitors of the parade in Moscow.