On May 9, Russia marked the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II. According to the Levada Center, an independent pollster, Victory Day is the most important holiday for Russians, ranking ahead of New Year, Easter and birthdays. For the Russian government, it is an opportunity to showcase its military might with a parade through Red Square.

During his speech at the parade, Vladimir Putin said that Russia “remembers the lessons of World War II and will never agree with the distortion of those events or attempts to justify the murderers and slander the true victors.”

“Russia has been and will continue to be an indestructible obstacle to Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism and will stand in the way of the violence perpetrated by the champions of these aggressive and destructive ideas,” Putin added.

Putin also emphasized Russians’ supposedly unwavering support for the war in Ukraine.

“Truth and justice are on our side,” he said. “The whole of Russia, our society and all people support the participants in the special military operation. We are proud of their courage and spirit and their steely determination that has always brought us victory.”

The parade was attended by several world leaders, most notably Xi Jinping, Aleksandar Vucic, Mahmoud Abbas, Lula da Silva and Robert Fiko. Marching in the parade, alongside Russian troops, were military contingents from 13 countries, including Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Overall, about 11,000 soldiers participated in the parade, including 1,500 who had fought in Ukraine, according to Russian state media.

“Parade formations include units from combat divisions, featuring participants in the special military operation. Marching in formation are 20 Heroes of Russia, 44 recipients of the Order of St George and 54 recipients of the Order of Courage, awarded for bravery and valor in the line of duty,” the Russian Ministry of Defense stated, as quoted by the state news agency TASS.

The parade included newly formed drone units. These units were established only in December last year and are not expected to be fully operational until autumn.

The exiled Novaya Gazeta Europe compared this year’s parade to that held in 2005 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory: 57 world leaders came to Russia then, versus 27 now, with figures such as George W Bush, Gerhard Schröder, Jacques Chirac, Silvio Berlusconi and even Viktor Yushchenko standing alongside Putin.

Putin’s 2005 speech significantly differed from his current rhetoric. Back then, he underlined the collective effort to achieve victory in World War II.

“We never divided victory into ours and theirs,” Putin said in 2005. “We will always remember our allies – the US, Great Britain, France and the other countries that fought in the anti-Nazi coalition, the German and Italian anti-fascists. Today, we pay tribute to the courage of all Europeans who resisted Nazism.”

This year, Putin avoided mentioning specific Soviet allies, referring to them simply as the “second front” and “Allied armies.” However, he did highlight China’s contributions.

“We will never forget that the opening of the second front in Europe, which took place after the decisive battles in the territory of the Soviet Union, hastened victory,” Putin said this year. “We highly appreciate the contribution made to our common struggle by the Allied armies, members of the Resistance, the courageous people of China and all those who fought for a peaceful future.”

Videos showing Chinese soldiers being applauded as they marched through Moscow streets near Red Square have gone viral. Other videos on social media show Chinese women chatting with Russian law enforcement at the parade, playfully asking them to repeat phrases in Chinese.

Preparations for the celebrations did not go smoothly. Just two days before Victory Day, several Russian cities, including in Moscow Region, were hit by a mass Ukrainian drone attack. The Telegram news channel Baza reported that mobile internet was shut down in more than 30 cities. The reaction was particularly strong in Saransk, where schools and universities canceled classes on the day of the drone attack. Moscow also experienced disruptions with bank card payments.

Margarita Simonyan, the chief of RT, played down the consequences on her Telegram channel:

“regarding the fact that several stores/restaurants are closed in the center of Moscow for the holidays, the internet is glitchy and you cannot order syrniki or a taxi. No big deal, fellow citizens. We will live like in Paris for a couple of days!”

Moscow’s four main airports had to halt operations repeatedly due to the drone attacks. Vucic’s plane even had to make an emergency landing in Baku.

At least 350 flights were canceled, affecting at least 60,000 passengers, according to the Association of Tour Operators in Russia. Turkish Airlines and Pegasus Airlines canceled nearly all their flights, leaving hundreds of people stranded.

More than 70 inbound flights were redirected to St Petersburg’s airport. Fontanka, a local media outlet, quoted a passenger who claimed to have been stuck on a plane for over 17 hours “without food, without information, without doctors.”

“We were trying to call an ambulance, but [we got] no response. Some women were feeling unwell. They refused to bring the stairs up to the plane. To every question the answer was ‘wait,’” the passenger said.