Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to scale back the annual Victory Day parade on May 9 is a reflection of his regime's mounting paranoia and the triple crisis that now grips it. The growing losses in Ukraine and the fear of assassination or ousting by strongman leaders have prompted Putin to take drastic measures to ensure his continued rule.
The annual Victory Day parade on May 9, which marks Russia's defeat of Nazi Germany, is traditionally a grandiose display of military hardware on Red Square.
However, this year the spectacle has been drastically scaled back due to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine. The Kremlin's forced retrenchment is a humiliation for President Vladimir Putin and a symptom of his mounting paranoia. Under his reign, Victory Day has been a display of performative patriotism. His recent decision to mute the parade, reducing it to a mere token display, reflects the triple crisis that now grips his regime.
The move is partly due to the heavy Russian losses on the Ukrainian front, where over 1.3 million casualties, including military personnel and civilians, have been reported. Another factor is a worldwide trend of strongman leaders being ousted or targeted for assassination, prompting Putin to fear for his life.
Consequently, the world's strongman leaders are being toppled or becoming targets for assassination. Earlier this year, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was seized in a US-led operation, and a joint operation between the US and Israel eliminated the Iranian high command. This has given Putin pause and underscored the stakes of staying in power. Losing billions of roubles' worth of equipment and the propaganda allure that would come with the loss would be a devastating blow. Hence, his desperate measures to keep the regime alive
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