Russia’s Victory Day parades, which are held on May 9 in cities throughout the country each year to honor the Soviet Union’s defeat over Nazi Germany, are being canceled across the country this year reportedly due to a shortage in tanks, the UK Sun reported.
As the war in Ukraine continues to take its toll on Russia’s military arsenal, governors in some regions of the country have either already canceled this year’s Victory Day parade or are considering doing so.
The regional governors of Kursk and Belgorod, which border Ukraine, have canceled their Victory Day parades. Additionally, the planned parade in Russian-occupied Sevastopol has also been canceled.
According to the Sun, the rumor is that the events are getting scrapped since there aren’t enough tanks to have them featured in the parades. However, that isn’t the reason that is being given.
Roman Starovoyt, the governor of Kursk oblast said the event was canceled for “security reasons,” according to Russian media outlet RBC.
Governor Yyacheslav Gladkov of Belgorod oblast said the parade was canceled to avoid provoking Ukraine with a show of vehicles and soldiers.
On Wednesday, authorities in the Russian-controlled Crimea and the city of Sevastopol jointly decided to cancel both the Labor Day parade on May 1 and the May 9 Victory Day parade due to “security considerations,” according to regional head Sergey Aksyonov.
But according to the Twitter account Tendar, which posts updates on the war in Ukraine, the decision to cancel Victory Day parades isn’t due to “security concerns” at all. Instead, Russia simply doesn’t have “enough functioning tanks to run up and down the road.”
Tendar noted that every available Russian tank is needed in Ukraine and any remaining parade vehicles will be reserved for the parades in Russia’s bigger cities.
The main Victory Day event takes place in Moscow’s Red Square, where tanks, military vehicles, and nuclear missiles parade through the square as fighter jets roar overhead.
Last year, Moscow canceled the fly-over, allegedly due to bad weather. However, Tendar argues that there must have been other reasons the Red Square fly-over was canceled since the skies over Moscow were clear on Victory Day.
