Security Concerns or Military Weakness?
Russia reportedly "doesn't have enough working tanks to drive up and down the street."
MOSCOW — The governors of two Russian regions have canceled military parades that are traditionally held across Russia to mark Victory Day on May 9, citing security concerns.
The governor of Kursk, Roman Starovoyt, said according to the RBC news agency that there would be no parade in the regional capital of the same name “for security reasons”.
His counterpart in the Russian region of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, put it a little more cumbersomely and drastically.
He announced that the parade in his oblast "will not take place either, so as not to provoke the enemy with a large number of vehicles and soldiers," quoted the Russian telegram channel ASTRA.
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The military parades are traditionally held across Russia and parts of the former Soviet Union to commemorate the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, commonly known as the "Great Patriotic War".
The most lavish parade is held in Moscow's Red Square, where troops parade in splendid military gear - a display of Russian military might made all the more relevant by the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
The governors of the two oblasts of Kursk and Belgorod, both of which lie on the border with Ukraine, at least indirectly mention the Ukraine war in their statements as a reason for abstaining from the military parades.
But one theory says there's more to it than that.
The cancellation is said to be due to a shortage of military equipment, reports online newspaper
Newsweek
.
Ukraine war: Russia has 'not enough working tanks' for parades
The Tendar Twitter account said the decision was made "because they just don't have enough working tanks to drive up and down the street."
According to Newsweek
, Tendar provides
ongoing updates on the war in Ukraine.
Every Russian tank is needed at the front lines and all other parade vehicles are needed for the larger cities, Tendar added to the post.
The air show at the parade in Moscow was also canceled last year.
The authorities justified this failure with “bad weather”.
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Russia lacks tanks: No parades because of the Ukraine war
The governors of Kursk and Belgorod have not yet issued a statement.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russian border regions like Belgorod and Kursk have blamed Kiev for regular rocket and drone attacks on military installations.
Victory Day parades were held in both regions last year, with over 1,000 soldiers and security officials present in Kursk.
However, the event in the Russian capital has been slimmed down.
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