No modern tanks and no flypast at Russia's scaled-down Victory Day Parade

It was the shortest Victory Day Parade Kremlin watchers can remember - there were no modern tanks, no flypast and even Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech lasted for less than 10 minutes.

The parade is held annually to mark the former Soviet Union's victory against Nazi Germany and normally it is a three-hour spectacular as the county tries to show its military strength.

But this year's parade was very different and the only tank on show was a vintage T-34 from the 1940s.

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With the war in Ukraine draining Russia of men and equipment, President Putin said that his country was fighting for its very existence against a "Nazi neighbour" and an "imperialist West".

Speaking in Moscow, he accused the West of Russophobia and aggressive nationalism, but he made no mention of Ukraine's expected spring offensive or of victory in Ukraine.

"The Western globalist elites, however, still preach about their exceptionalism," he said.

"They are pitting people against each other and dividing society, provoking bloody conflicts and coups, sowing hatred, Russophobia, aggressive nationalism, destroying the traditional family values that make people people."

After recent drone attacks inside Russia, including one on the Kremlin itself, there were doubts President Putin would appear in person.

Red Square was closed to the public and there was tight security, including GPS jamming across Moscow. 

The so-called Immortal Regiment march, where families traditionally display portraits of relatives lost in the Great Patriotic War was cancelled for public safety.

As expected, the parade was vastly slimmed down with no modern battle tanks or short-range air defence systems on show. It is estimated Russia's lost nearly 2,500 of its T-72 and T-80 tanks in Ukraine.

Former tank commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE told Forces News that he believes Putin and his generals have already lost if all they can do now is send pre–WW2 T-34 tanks and 1950s T-55 tanks to the frontline.

Russia's air force was also notably absent from the parade but among the military hardware on display were large rockets such as the S400 long-range air defence system.

Some of Russia's nuclear firepower was also on show, with a procession of YARS 24 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), serving as a reminder to the West of what Russia has in reserve.