A Parade of Fear: russia Cancels Columns of Military Equipment and Shuts Down the Internet on May 9

a celebration. Inside the moscow ring road, they plan to shut down not only the internet but also mobile communications, SMS, and even “whitelisted” services. Similar restrictions are expected in volgograd.

In its turn, the ministry of defense of the rf has announced that, for the first time since 2007, the parade on red square will be held without a column of military equipment due to a “terrorist threat”. A scaled-down format has also been confirmed in tomsk and krasnodar. If any military vehicles do appear here and there, they will be exclusively fire trucks or ambulances.

In st. petersburg, they decided not to burden themselves with World War II veterans; instead, they invited “heroes of the ‘special military operation’” to the parade. The number of spectators was reduced to a single grandstand with approximately 300 people.

Amid the general chaos, the diplomatic makeweight on red square is noteworthy. Only four leaders have confirmed their participation in the parade: presidents of belarus aleksandr lukashenko, of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, and Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico. Just to compare: last year, heads of state from 27 countries – ranging from China and Venezuela to Cuba and the partially recognized Palestinian Authority – visited putin. This time, the guest box is noticeably sparser.

The decline in the scale of the military parade is not an overnight process. Just a few years ago, May 9 was the main state spectacle: hundreds of pieces of military equipment, thousands of soldiers, and a live broadcast to the whole world. The 2015 parade – marking the 70th anniversary of the victory – was considered the apex, when the “latest” “armata” tanks rolled across red square and the VIP stands were packed with foreign leaders. Since then, something has been “optimized” every year: sometimes the number of vehicles was cut, other times the parade route was shortened. Now it has reached its logical conclusion – the parade remains, but there is no military hardware and communications, and even the veterans are deemed surplus.

A country waging the largest ground war in Europe since World War II cannot show its own citizens military equipment at a parade, because it is either burning in Ukrainian fields or urgently needed at the front. Instead of triumph – jammers and regime of silence. Instead of veterans – the “heroes of the ‘special military operation’”. Instead of allies – lukashenko and Fico. putin celebrates May 9 just as he wages war: hiding losses and passing off retreat as strategy.