Vladimir Putin, president of Russia presided over a grandiose Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Thursday, using the 80th anniversary of the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany to double down on his rhetoric over the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Flanked by Xi Jinping, China’s president and surrounded by other leaders from allied nations, Putin tied the memory of World War Two directly to present day conflict, describing his invasion of Ukraine as a continuation of the fight against fascism.
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Speaking before thousands of troops and dignitaries — many wearing the black and orange ribbon of Saint George, a symbol of Russian military pride — Putin declared that Russia “was and will be an indestructible barrier against Nazism, Russophobia, antisemitism,” continuing a well-worn narrative in which Ukraine’s leadership is falsely labelled as Nazi. He claimed the “entire country, society and people support the participants” of what the Kremlin still refers to as its “special military operation”, now well into its fourth year.
The parade, one of the defining fixtures of Putin’s calendar, featured 11,000 troops led into Red Square by Oleg Salyukov, the ground forces commander including 1,500 soldiers who had seen combat in Ukraine. They were inspected by Andrei Belousov, the newly appointed defence minister. For the first time, a fleet of military trucks carrying combat drones rolled through the square, underscoring the modernisation of Russia’s battlefield capabilities.
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Alongside traditional hardware — including Yars intercontinental missile systems, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers — six Su-25 fighter jets roared over the Kremlin in formation, trailing the Russian tricolour in plumes of smoke.
Xi Jinping, prominently seated next to Putin and also wearing the St George ribbon — a symbol banned in several of Russia’s neighbouring countries — received extensive attention from Russian state media. Prior to the parade, Putin and Xi reportedly held two rounds of talks and an informal discussion focused on the war in Ukraine.
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Among the other leaders present were Brazil’s Luiz inácio lula da Silva, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, and Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic, along with Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico — the only current EU head of government to attend the event. Vucic, whose country is a candidate for EU membership, acknowledged he might face political consequences for attending, especially after Kaja Kallas EU foreign policy chief warned member states and aspirants against participating in the commemorations due to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Putin’s remarks, heavy with historical parallels, positioned Russia not as an aggressor, but as a righteous defender of global order and traditional values. “Truth and justice are on our side,” he insisted.
