Russia projects ‘business as usual’ image on anticlimactic Victory Day
A Kamaz-43269 Vystrel 4x4 armoured vehicle with a new Spica RWS, featuring a 30mm autocannon and a 40mm grenade launcher, pictured during the 2022 Victory Day Parade in Nizhny Novgorod. (Image: OTC)
This year’s Victory Day parade in Moscow turned out to be the opposite of what was expected.
The annual parade in Moscow on 9 May usually attracts attention, but the symbolism of this year's event was more important than ever to foreign observers given the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Many international observers, analysts and senior government officials expected that the event could be used by Russian President Vladimir Putin for important announcements, such as mass mobilisation or an official declaration of war against Ukraine.
Reality proved them wrong and no major announcements were made.
International observers and Kremlinologists had spent days leading up to Victory Day forming broad assumptions based on the information revealed by officials
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