May 9 Demonstrations, Parades, Fireworks Getting Canceled Throughout Russia

There will be 2.5 times less military equipment on Red Square than before the war.

Over the two years of war, the scale of May holiday events in Russia has decreased significantly, writes the “We Can Explain” Telegram channel.

There was 2.5 times less equipment participating in the Victory Parade. This year, 75 units of equipment will pass through Red Square, Sergei Shoigu promised. For comparison, in the pre-war 2021, 197 units took part in the Parade.

The numbers mentioned by the minister may actually turn out to be even lower. So, last year he announced 125 units, but observers counted only 51. The only tank was the T-34 from World War II.

There was no aviation overflight in either 22 or 23; it was announced this year.

The UK Ministry of Defense and analysts interviewed by Western media assumed that the decrease in the number of tanks and armored vehicles at the Parade was due to the fact that “the latest developments” were usually demonstrated there — but there were none at the front. And the Russian authorities did not want to incur criticism on this matter. Russian propagandists explained this by saying that all the equipment had just gone to war.

As last year, several regions announced the cancellation of parades — these are the border Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions, as well as the Ryazan and Pskov regions. There will be no parades in the occupied Crimea either. All these regions were subject to attacks by Ukrainian drones.

In the Stavropol Territory, Voronezh and Omsk regions, fireworks displays on Victory Day were canceled.

Traditional May demonstrations were canceled in several cities. They will not be held in Khabarovsk, Omsk, Yakutsk, Simferopol, Volgograd and others. Last year the demonstration was canceled in Moscow, but this year there have been no announcements about it.