Putin denounces NATO at trimmed Victory Day parade
SkimNews Take
With no heavy armor to roll and few foreign guests to impress, Putin leaned on NATO denunciation to carry the ceremony — a wartime substitution of rhetoric for the material spectacle Moscow can no longer afford to stage.
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- Vladimir Putin delivered a Victory Day speech in Red Square, labeling NATO a bloc that arms and supports an "aggressive force" in Ukraine.
- Russia held a scaled‑back Victory Day parade, omitting armored vehicles and ballistic missiles for security reasons.
- Donald Trump announced a three‑day cease‑fire between Russia and Ukraine, but the Russian defense ministry later accused Kyiv of violating it.
- Alexander Lukashenko attended the parade alongside Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the only EU leader present.
- Putin laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, after which Russian TV aired footage of front‑line troops.
Why it matters: Putin’s rhetoric bolsters domestic support for the war, while the stripped‑down parade signals Russia’s limited military confidence, and the cease‑fire breach claim hardens NATO’s stance, reducing diplomatic leeway for Kyiv.
