How Putin's Victory Parade Speech Changed Drastically From Last Year

The tone and tenor of Vladimir Putin's Victory Day parade speech on Tuesday differed greatly from last year's address, with the Russian president saying "war" is being waged on Russia after avoiding the word in 2022.

Victory Day is Moscow's celebration of Nazi Germany's defeat during World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. Putin once again was the main figure of the annual festivities, delivering a speech at Red Square accompanied by a military parade.

This year's event occurred in more of an abridged fashion due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, which has led to significant personnel and equipment losses after nearly 15 months of war.

One of the glaring observations was the lack of Russian military personnel in attendance. Russia language outlet Agentstvo noted that the 8,000 soldiers who marched this year were the fewest since 2008, and nearly 3,000 soldiers fewer compared to last year's Victory Day. Approximately 14,000 soldiers participated in 2020.

A lack of military equipment was obvious, with just one tank—an old Soviet T-34—participating in the parade line as compared to the 10 T-72s, three Armatas and seven T-90s displayed last year. The armored systems "Tiger," "Ural," "KamAZ," the missile systems "Iskander," S-400, "Yars," and the Boomerang armored personnel carrier were also on display this year.

Glaring omissions in Putin's remarks were also evident.

'Criminal regime of Western masters'

Last year, Putin didn't use the word "war" to directly describe the conflict he escalated in Ukraine. On Tuesday, the president said war is being "waged" on Russia.

"Today, our civilization is at a crucial turning point," Putin said. "A real war is being waged against our country again, but we have countered international terrorism and will defend the people of Donbas and safeguard our security."

He went on to say that "there are no unfriendly or hostile nations either in the West or in the East" and that Russia also wants "a peaceful, free and stable future."

Putin used the word "Ukrainian" this year after not uttering it in 2022, essentially saying the nation is at the whim of Western nations whose goals include "to break apart and destroy our country, to make null and void the outcomes of World War II, to completely break down the system of global security and international law, to choke off any sovereign centers of development."

"Boundless ambition, arrogance and impunity inevitably lead to tragedies," Putin said. "This is the reason for the catastrophe the Ukrainian people are going through. They have become hostage to the coup d'état and the resulting criminal regime of its Western masters, collateral damage in the implementation of their cruel and self-serving plans."

In the next breath, he praised the United States and Great Britain for "bravely" fighting Nazism, and China for fighting against Japanese militarism.

While Nazism was mentioned about the same number of times as it was last year, Putin used arguably more aggressive rhetoric to evoke the term as it relates to the West—which the Russian leader said "forgot who destroyed that monstrous, total evil; who stood up for their native land and did not spare their lives to liberate the peoples of Europe."

"We see how in certain countries they ruthlessly and cold-bloodedly destroy memorials to Soviet soldiers, demolish monuments to great commanders, create a real cult of the Nazis and their proxies, erase and demonize the memory of true heroes," he said. "Such profanation of the feat and sacrifices of the victorious generation is also a crime, an outright revanchism on the part of those who were cynically and blatantly preparing a new march on Russia and who brought together neo-Nazi scum from around the world for this."

After calling out NATO last year for "launching an active military build-up," Putin did not mention NATO in this year's remarks.

Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek that Putin's Victory Day speech last year "did not meet the expectations" of pro-Ukraine War supporters who desired an immediate escalation, mobilization of civilians, and a rhetorical shift to an all-out "war" from a "special military operation."

"The 2022 address was quite long, but it did not address the key questions about the means, ends and prospects of the war and was, therefore, disappointing," Troitskiy said. "In his 2023 Victory Day speech, Putin tried to offer more clarity, but stopped short of announcing major decisions—such as an open declaration of war or issuing unambiguous threats, for example, to use nuclear weapons."

Putin's intentional phrasing, including "Western globalist elites" and "provoking bloody conflicts," may be viewed as a prologue to renewed Russian mobilization efforts as the war continues, he added.

However, Troitskiy notes, Putin acknowledged the efforts of the U.S. and the U.K. in World War II while also never making any specific or targeted threats.

"One factor working against announcing extraordinary measures in Putin's Red Square address may have been the presence of seven foreign leaders at the parade, and may have been the result of a tacit agreement that made their visit possible," he said.

One of those seven heads of state, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, was Putin's staunchest ally in attendance. Lukashenko, a staunch Putin ally, reportedly left the festivities early and was seen with a bandaged hand, causing renewed speculation about his health.