Will there be a celebratory parade on May 9 in Moscow

According to reports in several Russian media and local authorities, May 9 parades have been cancelled in several Russian regions.

May 9 has been elevated to a cult by Putin during his reign. It is the favourite holiday of the Russian dictator. Normally, May 9 in Russia was famous for pompous parades with lots of equipment and military personnel in every region.

In 2023, however, the situation could change dramatically. From the "capture of Kiev in three days" to the mass fear of Ukrainian drones across Russia, it has been 1.5 years.

It is now known that Russia has cancelled mass parades for 9 May in 21 cities. Not only in those close to the front lines, but also in places where the border with Ukraine is 1,500-2,500km away.

Among others, Ryazan, Orel, Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Khanty-Mansiysk, annexed Kerch, Simferopol, Sevastopol and others have cancelled parades.

The reasons for cancelling the parade vary: "security considerations", "not wanting to provoke the enemy". In the far-flung regions, the justification was "solidarity" with other cities.

In Moscow, the parade is likely to take place after all. Even despite the recent drone attacks on the Kremlin. But all security measures have been reinforced there as much as possible.

In Moscow, as well as in 30 other regions, UAV launches have been banned.

In addition, the parade itself in the Kremlin will be closed to the public. Those who go there are forbidden to bring food, water, food containers, any liquids (over 50ml) and flags.

In addition, there are GPS malfunctions in the centre of Moscow. Even a carshare service was banned in the centre for a few days, during the parade.

However, on Channel 24, political analyst Igor Reiterovich expressed the opinion that Russia will not be able to boast of its greatness at this year's parade, as it usually does. After all, a lot of equipment has already been lost at the front. And if, nevertheless, the Kremlin wants to boast of modern specimens, already the soldiers will have questions as to why it is not at the front.

If any new equipment appears there, believe me, the question will be asked in the Russian publicity pages, "Why isn't this equipment at the front?"

Reiterowicz believes that the Russians have already lost this parade informationally and PR-wise.