He did not mention Ukraine, the second-most populous Soviet republic at the time. Putin’s speech praised Soviet citizens contributing to Red Army success in 1945, and said “all peoples of the Soviet Union” were heroes responsible for WW2 victory. We believe that any (state) ideology of superior strength (dictating to other states) is inherently offensive, criminal and murderous.”Ī Washington-led cabal of nations seeks to “suppress any centers of local development,” Putin said, because of policies of “aggression”, “Russophobia” and “intending to completely demolish the system of international rules and laws.” Other comments by the Russian leader seemed either tone-deaf or truth-denying towards tens of thousands of Ukrainian killed and millions made homeless in the Kremlin’s 14-month-old assault on Ukrainians’ right to have their own state and live in it: “Russia sees no enemy peoples…we want to see a future that is peaceful, free and stable.

Enthused the announcer on the biggest missile on display, a 22-meter-long weapon, “Yars (the missile) is the main basis of mobile nuclear forces of Russia, the very most advanced system of guidance, mobility, abilities to deploy without being detected, allows the Yars to be a terrible force of nuclear deterrence.”

2024 invasion of Ukraine.Ĭonspicuously absent from the parade were multiple major ground combat systems profiled in the past as evidence of Russian military superiority, including the T-14 Armata tank (billed by Moscow to be ‘superior to any tank on Earth), Smerch heavy rocket artillery pieces, air-droppable BRD armored personnel carriers, and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles.Įven planners in some respects gave the parade a 1950s-retro look, limiting heavy equipment on show to less than a dozen hulking, long range missiles. Some vehicles’ dashboards were mounted with video cameras showing young drivers intently piloting vehicles past Putin and the heads of Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Belarus’ – all members of a small ground of states not having openly condemned Russia’s Feb. Russian army vehicles presented for inspection by the Russian leader, diplomatic legations and according to independent news reports moderate crowds of Muscovites under party-cloudy skies included a company of Tiger-M light armored cars, a scattering of BTR-90 armored personnel carriers, a platoon of Boomerang wheeled fighting vehicles, and Kamaz all-terrain trucks.

Red platoon