Soldiers marching by way of the streets of Moscow, armoured autos rolling throughout Red Square and a rallying cry from Vladimir Putin speaking of the West’s “real war”.
On the floor, Russia’s Victory Day parade might have appeared like enterprise as traditional – regardless of stories beforehand that it was set to be scaled again over safety fears.
But the numbers inform a special story.
With simply over 50 autos on show, the usually-impressive procession was only a quarter of its traditional measurement when it comes to tanks, transporters and missile carriers.
There was additionally no conventional flyover from Russia’s airforce.
Instead, this 12 months’s parade was led by way of Red Square by a single tank – a far cry from the same old show of army would possibly typically displayed on Victory Day.
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As is the custom on the day that marks Russia’s victory over Nazi Germany, that tank was a Second World War-era T-34-85 flying the Soviet Red Flag.
But in earlier years, the T-34-85 would have been adopted by a big column of modern-day preventing autos, together with Russia’s prized T-14 Armata and T-90 tanks.
Not this 12 months – a 12 months wherein Russia has suffered important losses following its February 2022 invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Analysts consider simply 51 autos had been concerned within the 2023 procession.
That is 1 / 4 of the 200 items of army {hardware} that rolled by way of the streets of Moscow in 2020 when Russia marked the seventy fifth anniversary of the top of the Second World War.
Even final 12 months – simply months after Russia invaded Ukraine – the variety of autos concerned was as excessive as 131 autos – across the identical because the pre-COVID 2019 occasion.
According to at least one impartial analyst, Oliver Alexander, this 12 months’s parade is the primary 12 months that he has not seen an official graphic detailing the procession.
However, utilizing Russia’s rigorously curated broadcast of the procession, he was capable of spot a complete of 51 autos.
Among them had been a number of Tigr-Ms – a 4×4 infantry mobility car used to maneuver troops and perform patrols.
Mr Alexander additionally counted 10 Remdiesel Z-STS Akhmat MRAPs – armoured autos which he mentioned had been solely utilized by forces from Chechnya.
Missile launchers and air defence items had been additionally included within the parade – as is custom.
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However, in line with Mr Alexander, there have been no short-range air defences and no Russian Airborne Forces (often known as VDV), who had been closely concerned within the early levels of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The conventional Victory Day flyover – involving Russia’s Su-30SM, Su-34 and Su-35S fight plane flying in formation – was additionally cancelled upfront.
One part of the procession that didn’t seem to vary nevertheless is the looks of three RS-24 YARS – Russia’s thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Three of the big missile items had been on show this 12 months, as they had been in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Source: information.sky.com”