Parade of "world's second army" features only one tank, from World War II

The parade on Red Square in Moscow on Victory Day, 9 May 2023, was attended by significantly fewer units of Russian military equipment than in previous years; in particular, there was only one tank – a World War II-era Т-34.

Source: footage of the parade broadcast; Radio Svoboda (Liberty) referring to the calculations of analyst Oliver Alexander

Details: According to Alexander, a total of only 51 vehicles were involved in this year's parade. Last year, when the parade was already reduced compared to the times before Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, 131 combat vehicles took part in the parade. In 2021, there were 197. That is a reduction of almost four times compared to the last year before the full-scale invasion.

The parade itself lasted about 45 minutes, including a tour of the troops and a speech by Vladimir Putin. In previous years, the parades lasted up to an hour and a half, but then the parade also included an aerial part, which was cancelled this year.

Alexander, like many other commentators, drew attention to the absence of modern tanks. It was the first time since 2007 that the parade marched without heavy armoured vehicles.

The parade was opened by a World War II-era T-34 tank.

Next came light combat vehicles – Tigr (Tigers), then Ural and Boomerang infantry fighting vehicles, Iskander and S-400 missile systems, and three Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles were also paraded across Red Square.

The military equipment took less than 10 minutes to pass through during the parade.

In previous years, the passage of equipment took significantly longer, and modern Armata tanks and other vehicles were demonstrated, which, according to commentators, have "no analogues in the world". At the same time, many commentators noted that this equipment either did not take part in the fighting in Ukraine at all or was present at the front in very limited numbers.

According to Agentstvo's [a Russian news outlet – ed.] estimates, about 8,000 people took part in the parade. It is the lowest number of participants since 2008 (the Russian Ministry of Defence claimed 11,000 participants).

In 2022, 11,000 military personnel took part in the parade.

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