Vladimir Putin pares back Victory Day parade over fear of Ukrainian strikes

{"text":[[{"start":8.65,"text":"Russia will hold its Victory Day parade without heavy military equipment for the first time in almost two decades, as Ukraine’s intensifying long-range strikes threaten to overshadow Vladimir Putin’s showcase event."}],[{"start":21.6,"text":"The parade in Moscow on May 9, celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war, will go ahead without the tanks, armoured vehicles, long-range weapons and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that typically trundle past Russia’s president on Red Square “due to the current operational situation”, according to the defence ministry."}],[{"start":42.85,"text":"Instead, the parade’s televised broadcast will include footage of Russian units fighting in Ukraine, as well as members of its nuclear forces, air force and navy on active duty. The parade will also feature a military flyover, concluding with Su-25 fighter jets painting the Moscow sky in the colours of Russia’s flag."}],[{"start":62.150000000000006,"text":"The decision announced late on Tuesday is a tacit admission of the significant blowback Russia is facing from Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years into the war. "}],[{"start":72.95,"text":"Ukraine’s long-range strikes with homegrown drones, as well as advanced western missiles, are evading Russia’s air defences with growing success to wreak havoc on the country’s military logistics, defence production and energy infrastructure. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":86.8,"text":"A series of drone attacks on oil-exporting facilities near St Petersburg in late March cost Russia almost $1bn in lost revenue. "}],[{"start":95.5,"text":"Authorities in the southern town of Tuapse declared a state of emergency after Ukrainian strikes set a refinery ablaze, causing a toxic black rain that has coated the town with an oily residue. "}],[{"start":107.15,"text":"Ukrainian drone strikes also regularly ground flights for hours at a time at Moscow’s main airports."}],[{"start":113.5,"text":"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Wednesday that Kyiv’s strike range had grown to 1,500km. “We will continue to extend these ranges, and these are entirely justified Ukrainian responses to Russian terror,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media, where he posted a video of a large cloud of smoke enveloping Perm, a city in the Ural Mountains. "}],[{"start":137.25,"text":"“It is important that every strike reduces the capabilities of Russia’s military industry, logistics and oil exports. The results are obvious to everyone,” he added."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":147.9,"text":"Moscow authorities have also cut back rehearsals and limited plans to shut down the city’s main thoroughfares during the parade, which typically paralyses traffic in the capital for several days in early May, according to an analysis by independent news site Agentstvo. "}],[{"start":163.6,"text":"Several Russian regions are also scaling back their own parades or cancelling them entirely, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported earlier this month."}],[{"start":172.79999999999998,"text":"Putin revived the bombastic displays of military strength, last seen at the height of the cold war, in 2008 as he sought to assert Russia’s power on the world stage. In recent years, Putin has used the memory of the Soviet victory as justification for the current invasion of Ukraine by groundlessly likening Kyiv’s leadership to the Nazis."}],[{"start":194.49999999999997,"text":"At last year’s event, which marked the 80th anniversary of the war’s end, Putin welcomed 27 international dignitaries, including China’s President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico. The Kremlin has not announced the visit of any foreign dignitaries this year, though Fico has said he plans to attend."}],[{"start":218.44999999999996,"text":"Additional reporting by Christopher Miller in Kyiv"}],[{"start":229.64999999999995,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777464232_1156.mp3"}