Preparations for Russia’s Victory Day 2026 parade are moving into their final stage in Moscow. The military procession will start at 10:00 Moscow time on Saturday, May 9, on Red Square, with President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Andrei Belousov expected on the reviewing stand. The Ministry of Defence has been running closed rehearsals at the Alabino training ground outside Moscow since late March, and a full dress rehearsal on Red Square is scheduled for the final week before the holiday. After the rehearsal, central streets around the Kremlin will close to most traffic until the parade ends.
Victory Day marks the formal surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union on May 9, 1945, though the first large postwar parade was held on Red Square on June 24, 1945. The modern annual format — infantry columns, historical units, armoured vehicles and a fly-past — became a fixed public spectacle after the 50th anniversary in 1995. This year is the 81st anniversary, not a round-number jubilee, so the event is expected to be smaller in diplomatic profile than the 80th anniversary parade in 2025.
The shape of this year’s parade
Russian state media have reported that the 2026 parade will follow the structure established over the past two decades. In recent years that has meant roughly 10,000 military personnel and more than 125 pieces of equipment crossing Red Square, beginning with a colour guard carrying the Russian flag and the Victory Banner, followed by cadet formations and combined-arms columns from the Western, Central, Southern and Eastern military districts. The navy, aerospace forces and strategic missile troops also take part, though exact numbers are not disclosed until the morning itself.
The ceremony opens with the parade commander’s formal report to the defence minister, after which the president delivers the holiday address. Putin has used the speech for years to honour veterans and to connect the 1945 victory to current military policy. His remarks this year will be read closely for what they say about the continuing war in Ukraine and about Russia’s diplomatic position after more than four years of fighting.
The Russian Ministry of Defence publishes the official parade order and participant list on its website, usually in the last days before May 9.
Which leaders will attend
The Kremlin has not published a full guest list for 2026. The contrast with 2025 is instructive: the 80th anniversary brought Chinese President Xi Jinping and several other foreign leaders to Moscow, but round anniversaries carry diplomatic weight that ordinary years do not. For 2026, the war in Ukraine and international arrest warrants for Russian officials continue to complicate travel for some invited delegations.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a regular attendee and is widely expected on the podium, though Minsk has not confirmed the trip. Central Asian leaders have attended in past years, but none had confirmed as of the first week of May. Western governments are not expected to send representatives. The Kremlin’s event schedule will post the final list of foreign guests only after accreditation closes.
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Hardware, units and the fly-past
The parade is also the main annual public display of Russian conventional weapons, many of them the same systems deployed in Ukraine. In recent years the mechanical column has combined historical vehicles with modern equipment: the T-34-85 tank has led the column, followed by newer armour, self-propelled artillery, air-defence batteries and road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers. The Ministry of Defence has not said which frontline units will be pulled back from operations to march, but the ceremonial units at Alabino train separately from deployed forces.
A fly-past over Red Square is planned, weather permitting, with military transport aircraft and combat helicopters. Moscow’s cloud cover has cancelled the aviation portion in previous years, and the final decision is usually made only hours before the parade. The 2026 flight programme has not been published in full, though typical displays include transport aircraft, bombers and helicopter formations.
Security and public access
Moscow’s city government has announced phased street closures around Red Square for the final rehearsals and the holiday. The Federal Security Service and the National Guard will run a security perimeter, with metal detectors at entry points and restrictions on large bags and liquids. Red Square seating is not open to the general public; attendance is by invitation for veterans, officials, diplomats and selected guests, while the wider public watches from home or from points outside the restricted zone.
The official programme also includes wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden and an evening artillery salute. In many cities, regional parades and fireworks mark the day. The Immortal Regiment march, in which citizens carry photographs of relatives who fought in the Second World War, has been held in Moscow only intermittently since security concerns intensified in 2022. Organisers have not said whether the full march will return this year.
How the war has reshaped the holiday
Victory Day has carried different weight since February 2022. The Russian state narrative draws a line from the defeat of Nazi Germany to the current operation in Ukraine, and the parade doubles as a morale operation and a message to foreign governments. It does not follow, however, that the event’s scale signals battlefield progress. In several recent years, the Ministry of Defence trimmed the display or kept some units in the field while the ceremony itself remained full.
International attendance tells part of the story. The United States, Britain and most European Union governments do not send official representatives. The US State Department has kept its Level 4 do not travel advisory for Russia in place, a restriction covered earlier on AcademicJobs. The official warning cites arbitrary enforcement of local law and the risk of flying into the country, and it remains in force through the Victory Day period.
The domestic audience remains substantial. State channels broadcast the parade live from early morning, and military commentators analyse the hardware afterwards. That split — a domestic communal ritual alongside international isolation — is likely to be sharper in 2026, the first Victory Day since the conflict entered its fifth calendar year.
Photo by Egor Myznik on Unsplash
What to watch on May 9
For outside observers, the speech and the guest list will draw the most attention, as will any change in the official account of the war. The address follows the parade commander’s report and usually begins shortly after 10:00 Moscow time. After the speech, the march-past runs for roughly an hour, with the historical units first and the modern equipment column behind them.
- Infantry formations: cadets, contract soldiers and officer academies.
- Historical units: troops in Great Patriotic War uniforms carrying regimental standards.
- Mechanised column: tanks, artillery, air-defence systems and missile launchers.
- Aviation display: transport aircraft and helicopters over Red Square, if weather allows.
Whether the Immortal Regiment returns, whether any foreign leader attends, and whether the fly-past is cancelled at the last minute will tell observers much about the state’s confidence and the holiday’s changing purpose. The rehearsals answer none of those questions; they only ensure the columns are straight.