A single Soviet-era tank: Russia’s anemic Victory Day parade marks defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II

SCALED-BACK VICTORY DAY: Russian President Vladimir Putin showed up in person in Moscow’s Red Square to oversee the annual Victory Day parade, which unlike previous extravaganzas featured a scaled-back display of military hardware, including a single tank, an old World War II-era Soviet T-34.

Putin spoke for less than 10 minutes and trotted out his frequent talking points that Russia is acting in self-defense in Ukraine because “a real war has been unleashed against our motherland,” and he blamed “Western elites” for backing Kyiv. “Today, civilization is at a critical juncture,” he said in his first public appearance since a drone strike on the Kremlin that Russia labeled an assassination attempt against the Russian leader.