Russia admits it cannot hold Victory Day parade in Donetsk and Luhansk

IRINA BALACHUK - THURSDAY, 5 MAY 2022, 12:11

There will be no 9 May parade in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk for the first time since 2014, when those territories were seized by the Russians.

Source: The Russian propaganda publication RIA Novosti, quoting the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko

Quote from Kiriyenko in Mariupol: "The Victory Parade and the [procession of the] 'Immortal Regiment' cannot be held in Donetsk and Luhansk for now, but that time will come soon.

Background: on 4 May, Ukrainian intelligence reported that the invaders were planning a "celebration" of Victory Day in the ruined city of Mariupol instead of in Donetsk, while Russian propagandists also claimed that there would be a "celebration" on 9 May in occupied Mykhailovka, Zaporizhzhia Region.

More background:

In late April, Denis Pushilin, the leader of the so-called "DPR" (Donetsk People's Republic), announced that he had cancelled the Victory Parade and the procession of the Immortal Regiment of 9 May, ostensibly because of the threat of shelling.

At the same time, the invaders are preparing to celebrate 9 May in Mariupol. There, the invaders have installed their "symbol of support for Russia" - a hideous black monument to a "grandmother with a flag of the Soviet Union" - and are preparing to hold a "prisoner parade" of Mariupol residents dressed up in Ukrainian army uniforms.

The traitor to the country Halina Danilchenko, who calls herself the mayor of occupied Melitopol, said she is preparing to celebrate 9 May this year on a very large scale.