Monday 9 May 2022 08:17 AM Ukraine war: Victory Day parades take place in Russia trends now

Tanks streaming Soviet banners and motorbikes painted with the 'Z' symbol paraded through the streets of Vladivostok today as Russia's Victory Day commemorations got underway in the far east ahead of the main march through Moscow.

Tanks and armoured vehicles trundled through the streets of Russia's far-eastern outpost, their sides adorned with a black and orange strip - an imitation of the Saint George's ribbon, the highest decoration of Imperial Russia and now a symbol of Second World War sacrifice and pro-Russian sentiment in former Soviet states.

Goose-stepping soldiers followed close behind, rifles held across their chests which were emblazoned with a ribbon in the same Saint George's colours. A Soviet-era motorbike and sidecar joined them, a 'Z' symbol - which has become synonymous with Russia's war in Ukraine - stuck on the side in the same black and organ livery.

The parade in Vladivostok - which is seven hours ahead of Moscow time - took place ahead of the main parade which will process through Red Square later today. Vladimir Putin is due to oversee it, and is expected to give a speech hailing Russia's military might and drumming up support for the war in Ukraine.

But after the failure of Russia's generals to seize Kyiv and with their offensive in Donbas largely at a standstill, there will be little for Putin to cheer. That has led to speculation - denied by the Kremlin - that Putin will instead use the speech to announce a further escalation in the fighting.

Putin could use his speech to officially declare war on Ukraine instead of the 'special military operation' he is currently waging, allowing him to call up Russia's military reserves and perhaps conscript more men into the army in the hopes of turning the tide of war in his favour.

President Zelensky has warned his nation to be on high alert for missiles strikes across the country today, suspecting that Russia will try to dampen any displays of defiance using withering rocket and artillery fire.

All of which comes against a back-drop of increased nuclear threats from the Kremlin and Russian state media, adding to the lingering fear that a desperate and detached Putin could order an atomic strike either on Ukraine or its allies in order to achieve victory by shock and awe.

Victory Day in Russia is a public holiday that marks Nazi Germany's surrender to Field Marshal Zhukov and other Allied commanders that ended the Second World War in Europe.

Most other nations mark the holiday on May 8 - the day the surrender was signed shortly before midnight in Berlin - but Russia marks it a day later because the time difference between the German capital and Moscow meant the signing happened on May 9.

The Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people in World War II, which it calls the Great Patriotic War. The conflict, which devastated cities and the countryside, caused enormous suffering and left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Victory Day is a rare event in the nation's divisive post-Soviet history that is revered by all political players, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage patriotic pride and underline Russia's role as a global power.

The annual celebrations feature a massive military parade on Red Square showcasing the latest armaments from tanks to fighter jets to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles.