Vladimir Putin stages ‘belligerent' show of force in Moscow Victory Day parade
Vladimir Putin presided over a massive show of tanks, missiles and troops in Moscow yesterday in a 'belligerent' show of force alongside Chinese president Xi Jinping, to bolster Russia's global image as the Ukraine war grinds on.
Putin was joined by 27 foreign leaders, who witnessed more than 11,000 troops on display in Red Square, in Russia's World War II Victory Day parade that involved soldiers from 13 other countries, and included 200 tanks among the presentation of military power.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin visits city to mark Navy Day
Ukrainian drones targeted St Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns. St Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva river and is attended by Mr Putin. Last year, Russia suspected a Ukrainian plan to attack the city's parade, according to state television. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July. READ MORE Mr Putin arrived at the city's historic naval headquarters on Sunday by patrol speed boat, from where he followed drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic oceans and Baltic and Caspian seas. 'Today we are marking this holiday in a working setting, we are inspecting the combat readiness of the fleet,' Mr Putin said in a video address. The Russian ministry of defence said air defence units downed a total of 291 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones on Sunday, below a record 524 drones downed in attacks on May 7th, ahead of Russia's Victory Day parade on May 9th. Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St Petersburg, said that more than 10 drones were downed over the area, and falling debris injured a woman. At 8.40am Irish time on Sunday Mr Drozdenko said that the attack was repelled. St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport was closed during the attack, with 57 flights delayed and 22 diverted to other airports, according to a statement. Pulkovo resumed operations later on Sunday. Russian blogger Alexander Yunashev, part of an official group of reporters travelling with Mr Peskov, said Mr Peskov had told him their flight from Moscow to St Petersburg had been delayed by the drone attack for two hours on Sunday. – Reuters
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Putin suddenly cancels Russia's naval parade after huge losses in Ukraine war as Trump ‘loses patience' with tyrant
VLADIMIR Putin has mysteriously cancelled his annual naval parade at the last-minute as Russia's war losses continue to mount. Ukraine has managed to destroy over a third of Russia's combat fleets in the Black Sea since Putin's invasion in 2022 as well as eliminating over a million soldiers. Advertisement 9 Vladimir Putin has mysteriously cancelled his annual naval parade at the last-minute Credit: AFP 9 A Russian warship upin flames after a Ukrainian attack on a Black Sea port Credit: TELEGRAM/UNPIXS 9 Russian amphibious ship, the Caesar Kunikov, was sunk off the coast of Crimea in a powerful explosion Credit: UKRAINIAN MILITARY/UNPIXS 9 Russia's event is often touted as an opportunity for Putin to show off his military might but Kremlin officials are yet to provide an explanation into why it has been axed. The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation first announced the cancellation online as they said: "The Kremlin can no longer pretend that the war doesn't affect Russia's home front. "The war impacts all areas of life in Russia, even symbolic and high-profile events like the navy parade. "Today, Russian warships cannot feel safe even on their own territory. Advertisement read more in Ukraine war "Against this backdrop, the news that Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, will be decommissioned and scrapped is especially telling." Work on the hulking Ukraine has systematically laid waste to Putin's naval forces since 2022 in kamikaze drone and missile attacks. In 2024, Putin's newest and only remaining missile cruiser in the Black Sea was Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Exclusive Exclusive Breaking The 'Zyklon' was taken out alongside the 266-M minesweeper, Kovrovets, in a devastating ATACMS missiles strike. Putin refuses to meet Zelensky to end war as tyrant's forces kill six in fresh blitz on residential area in Ukraine Its sinking was part of Last April, said it had struck the salvage ship Kommuna - the oldest ship still serving in the . Ukraine's top brass say they have decimated 34 per cent of the Black Sea Fleet's 184 warships had been disabled. Advertisement It is not the first time Putin has been forced to axe an annual Russian celebration due to the raging conflict. He was made to cancel midnight firework displays across Russia on New Year's Eve as a joyless consequence of his war. There were even claims that the war-wounded could be scared of the noise from fireworks. Despite facing crippling losses Putin has continued to launch deadly strikes on Ukrainian civilians in recent days as he continues to anger the US. Advertisement America has accused Moscow of dragging out the war with their senseless attacks instead of agreeing to a peace deal. 9 A Russian rocket boat and other warships float past drawbridges above the Neva River ahead of the 2022 parade Credit: AP 9 Putin out on the water at the parade last year Credit: AP 9 Putin unleashed another deadly blitz on civilians with a fire raging in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday Credit: East2West Advertisement US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News on Saturday that President Donald Trump is now growing 'impatient' with Putin's delaying tactics. He said: "I think he is growing increasingly frustrated that despite having very good interaction with Vladimir Putin in phone calls, it never leads to anything. "The time has come for some action here, and I think the president has made that abundantly clear. "He's losing his patience, he is losing his willingness to continue to wait for the Russian side to do something here to bring an end to this war. Advertisement "That wasn't his war, but he wants to see it come to an end." The US has been trying to force Putin to negotiate a deal with Trump issuing a He vented his frustration with the despot, declaring he was The US and Kyiv have also been pushing to get Vlad to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky in what would be the first meeting of the pair since Russia 's illegal invasion. Advertisement But the Kremlin was quick to This isn't likely to happen until the end of August at the earliest, he added. Hours after, Putin ordered his troops to unleash another deadly blitz on civilians. At least six Ukrainians were killed in the horror Russian strikes which targeted a high rise building and left a shopping mall up in flames. Advertisement Kharkiv, Novodvoryansky, Dnipro and Kamianske were all targeted. 9 Death and destruction was brought to Dnipropetrovsk region Credit: East2West 9 Putin has been embarrassed again by having to cancel a parade Credit: Getty
RTÉ News
9 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Russian navy parade cancelled for 'security reasons'
Russia has said a major annual navy parade had been cancelled for "security reasons", without specifying the threat or concern. "It has to do with the general situation. Security reasons are of utmost importance," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies. The parade was meant to be the highlight of Russia's Navy Day, which falls on the last Sunday of July each year and honours the country's sailors. But local authorities in the coastal city of Saint Petersburg, where the warships and submarines were scheduled to pass, said on Friday the parade had been cancelled without giving a reason. Russian President Vladimir Putin - who re-established Navy Day in 2017, nearly four decades after it was cancelled in Soviet times - did not show up in person this year for the first time. Instead, he appeared in a video message hailing the "bravery" and "heroism" of Russia's sailors participating in the offensive in Ukraine. Russia, which launched its military operation on Ukraine in February 2022 with daily bombardments of its neighbour, has faced retaliatory Ukrainian drone strikes on its territory in recent months. The Russian defence ministry said that 100 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight. At least 10 of them were intercepted not far from Saint Petersburg and a woman was wounded, the governor for the northwestern Leningrad region, Aleksandr Drozdenko, said on Telegram. That drone assault also disrupted operations at Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, delaying dozens of flights, the facility's authorities said.
