[The Reality of Victory Day: Fear Hidden Behind a Dictator’s Bravado]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued a stern warning to foreign officials planning to attend Russia’s Victory Day celebrations—Russia's most significant national holiday—stating that he “does not recommend attendance.” This warning comes at a time when Russia is attempting to gather its allies to project a show of force and break its diplomatic isolation. Once a grand national event showcasing the glory of the Soviet victory, the 2026 Victory Day has devolved into a shabby affair where Russia must act warily of Ukraine, unable to even deploy tanks. Furthermore, Russia, once the aggressor, now finds itself trembling in fear within its own territory.

On the 8th, the Ukrainian local media outlet The Kyiv Independent reported: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he does not recommend foreign delegations attend the military parade in Moscow on May 9, after Russia threatened retaliatory measures if a unilateral ceasefire is violated.” The report drew attention by noting that “President Zelenskyy mentioned that the fate of Russia’s May 9 military parade depends on the Ukrainian military,” a statement made amid Moscow’s growing concerns over potential attacks during the parade.

The Kyiv Independent continued: “Some countries friendly with Russia have contacted the Ukrainian side, stating that their officials plan to attend the parade in Moscow on May 9. In response, the Ukrainian Presidential Office replied that it by no means recommends going to Moscow.” In short, they were warned that while they are free to go to Moscow, their safety cannot be guaranteed. Consequently, it appears that most foreign heads of state will not participate in Russia’s Victory Day events. In response, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov claimed that “Russia did not invite foreign heads of state to this year’s Victory Day celebrations.”

This situation vividly demonstrates the current flow of the Ukraine-Russia war. In this conflict, the aggressor was Russia. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has consistently flaunted its military superiority. However, in May 2026, that dynamic has been completely reversed.

In a nightly address on May 7, President Zelenskyy emphasized: “As a result of Russia driving the war to this point, even their most important parade now depends on us. This is a clear signal. It is time to end this war.”

These were not just rhetorical flourishes but a description of reality. Victory Day, the national event Russia pours the most effort into each year, is in a position where it must reduce its own form and scale in the face of military threats from the enemy nation, Ukraine.

Zelenskyy pointed out this paradox even more sharply: “Russia wants permission from Ukraine to hold a parade—to march through a square for one hour, once a year. And then they intend to go back to killing our people and continuing the war.”

[Red Square Without Tanks for the First Time in 18 Years… A Humiliating Parade]

The Victory Day parade was the very symbol of the Putin regime. The scene of tanks, ICBM launchers, and state-of-the-art weapons filling Red Square was an annual ritual to display Russia’s military might to the world. But this year was different.

Regarding this, The Kyiv Post reported: “The Russian Ministry of Defense officially cited ‘terrorist threats’ as the reason for completely excluding military equipment from the Red Square procession. Similar downsizing measures followed in other regional cities like Krasnodar and Tomsk, and in St. Petersburg, an unprecedented situation occurred where participants of the war in Ukraine were invited to the event instead of traditional World War II veterans.”

It is particularly noteworthy that military equipment will not appear in Red Square for the first time in nearly 20 years. While the Kremlin cited the ‘current operational situation,’ analysts diagnose that a shortage of equipment, combined with the fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, were the decisive factors. In fact, in Perm (a key railway transportation hub where the Trans-Siberian Railway extends to the Far East), its own Victory Day military parade was canceled entirely following successive Ukrainian drone attacks. Perm Krai Governor Dmitry Makhonin stated the decision was made “to ensure citizen safety and to allow law enforcement agencies to focus on protecting residents.”

The shabbiness was not just a matter of equipment. Russia’s isolation was also starkly revealed in the number of attending foreign guests. The Kyiv Post pointed out: “In last year’s 2025 Victory Day, 29 foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Lula, attended, serving as a stage to boast that Western attempts to isolate Russia had failed. In contrast, as of April 30 this year, the Kremlin has not even been able to announce an official list of invited foreign guests.”

The reason was clear. It was because Zelenskyy had directly warned the world against visiting Moscow. Zelenskyy made it clear: “We do not recommend visiting Russia in terms of security. If you go, it is your personal decision; do not ask us for guarantees.” Furthermore, he warned that “Russia might orchestrate provocations such as arson, explosions, or other acts and then shift the blame to Ukraine,” stating that “scheduled visiting delegations were notified of this in advance.”

[1,500km Deep Strikes… The Russian Rear is Already a Battlefield]

The physical basis that allowed Ukraine to make Russia fearful is its drastically developed long-range strike capability. Areas deep inside the Russian interior, hundreds or thousands of kilometers away from Red Square, have already become battlefields.

Bloomberg reported: “The Ukrainian military struck the Lukoil refinery in the Perm region, approximately 1,500 kilometers east of Moscow, causing fires in major crude processing facilities and other equipment.” It also stated that “a complex long-range missile and drone attack on the Chuvashia region, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, resulted in 2 deaths and 34 injuries, one of whom was a child, leading the Chuvashia Republic to declare a state of emergency.”

Additionally, The Kyiv Independent reported: “Dozens of drones were launched toward Moscow on the night of May 7. Moscow Mayor Sobyanin reported that the first three were shot down just after midnight, with a total of 26 shot down throughout the night.” Flight restrictions were activated at two airports south of Moscow.

Strategic analysis agency ACLED analyzed that “Ukrainian attacks on energy facilities inside Russia surged twofold in April 2026 compared to the previous month,” defining this as “not a temporary spike, but a sustained strategic campaign designed to cut off the oil revenue boom Russia enjoys due to international energy market disruptions caused by the war.”

ABC News reported: “In March this year, the number of attack drones launched by Ukraine into Russia exceeded the number of drones launched by Russia into Ukraine for the first time.” The frequency of attacks between the aggressor and the victim has begun to reverse.

[Putin’s Fear Hidden Behind a ‘Ceasefire Declaration’]

Regarding the current trend, The Kyiv Post stated: “Russia’s sudden declaration of a unilateral ceasefire limited to May 8–9 is also read as a product of this fear. While the Russian Ministry of Defense declared a unilateral ceasefire, halting all combat actions on May 8–9 for the Victory Day celebrations, it simultaneously threatened to launch massive retaliatory missile strikes on the center of Kyiv if Ukraine attempts to disrupt the Moscow parade.”

The Kyiv Post noted: “This was not a gesture for peace, but a threat begging for a single day of safety. Zelenskyy defined this as ‘manipulation’ and a ‘theatrical performance,’ striking back by saying, ‘Russia’s stance shows that Moscow does not seriously want peace, but rather a military parade.’”

The outlet further interpreted: “Ukraine also declared its own ‘regime of silence’ from May 6, but Russia launched over 1,800 attacks in various regions including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia just hours after it took effect. Furthermore, considering that Russia committed 10,721 violations during the 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire last April, the reality of Russia’s unilateral ceasefire proposal was not a will to stop fighting, but merely a plea to stop counterattacks just for the day of the parade.”

[Diplomats ‘Not Moving’ Even Inside Russian Territory]

The extent of Russia’s fear is also revealed in its absurd demands toward diplomats stationed in Kyiv. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated on the 6th that “Russia already sent a diplomatic note on May 4 to diplomatic missions in Kyiv, advising personnel to evacuate, forewarning of ‘inevitable retaliatory strikes.’”

Regarding this, The Kyiv Independent reported: “A bizarre scene unfolded where the aggressor nation notified third-country diplomats in the capital of the warring party to evacuate. However, diplomats from various countries remained firm, and foreign governments made it clear that they have no plans to reduce the scale of their diplomatic presence in Kyiv.”

[The Kremlin’s Fear: What the Reversal of Fortunes Says]

Victory Day was an annual stage for the Putin regime to strengthen domestic unity and flaunt Russia’s grandeur to the world. However, the Victory Day of 2026 delivered the opposite message to the world: a Red Square without tanks, a parade without foreign guests, parades being canceled one after another in its own cities, and a structure where it begs the enemy nation ‘not to attack for just one day.’

When Zelenskyy said, “Russia has driven the war to this point,” it was not a simple taunt. The actual scene of the 2026 Victory Day is Russia, which set out to subjugate Ukraine, now reduced to a state where it must worry about the enemy’s reaction just to hold its most symbolic day safely.

In the end, history is on the side of those who shed blood to protect their land, not on the side of the aggressor. Those who ignore Zelenskyy’s warning and head to the Moscow event site will be recorded as accomplices in the court of history. The moment Putin’s fear becomes reality, the brilliant lights of Victory Day will become the funeral sparks illuminating his downfall.