Overview
- Moscow staged a smaller Victory Day parade on Red Square with no tanks or missiles for the first time in about two decades.
- President Vladimir Putin said Russian troops in Ukraine face an aggressive force backed by all of NATO and called the campaign a just cause.
- Security services ringed the event with a large protective detail, curtailed the guest list, and cut public mobile internet in Moscow and other cities.
- A three-day truce brokered by the United States took effect with an agreed swap of 1,000 prisoners after earlier holiday pauses by both sides collapsed.
- Leaders from Malaysia, Laos, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus attended, signaling support from states friendly to Moscow.