Without military equipment, but with Koreans. The May 9 parade in Moscow lasted only 45 minutes
Kyiv • UNN
The event lasted 45 minutes without ground equipment, but with aviation and North Korean troops. Leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Laos and other states arrived for the parade.
The Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9, 2026, was indeed the most modest in history. There was no military hardware on Red Square, although aviation flew over Moscow, and the ceremony itself lasted only 45 minutes. For comparison: in 2025, the parade lasted 1 hour and 9 minutes, and in 2024 - 50 minutes. This is reported by UNN.
Details
The parade ceremony began at 10:00 AM Moscow time with the carrying out of the Russian state flag, as well as the assault flag of the 150th Idritsa Division, which was raised over the Reichstag building in Berlin in May 1945.
The May 9 parade was commanded by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev. It was reviewed by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov: he conducted an inspection of the troops participating in the parade and congratulated them on the "holiday," after which he reported to Vladimir Putin.
This year, the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, and Laos attended the parade. Also present were the heads of South Ossetia and Abkhazia—occupied parts of Georgia. Russia recognized them as "independent" in 2008.
In addition, the leaders of Republika Srpska—an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina—were present at the parade. At the same time, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico did not attend the parade.
Which troops participated in the parade
In total, over 1,000 Russian military personnel were involved in the parade, including those participating in the war against Ukraine. For the first time, soldiers from the Russian Unmanned Systems Forces appeared at this parade—they were created in 2025. Incidentally, Ukraine created its own analogous Unmanned Systems Forces in 2024.
Troops from the DPRK also marched in the parade. They were the only foreign participants.
Additionally
At the victory parade in Moscow, Leonid Ryzhov, a participant in the invasion of Ukraine who in 2022 commanded a motorized rifle brigade that took part in battles in the Luhansk region, was seated next to Vladimir Putin.
Separately, Russians were shown a montage of footage of their "invincible and legendary" army, specifically from the front line in Ukraine.