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A man in a military uniform checks his mobile phone on a street in Moscow, Russia, on May 6, 2026.
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Why Moscow is afraid this Victory Day

by Karol Luczka

On May 9, Moscow will stage its annual Victory Day parade marking the end of World War II in Europe — but this year, the spectacle is notable not for its grandeur, but for what's missing. For the first time in Vladimir Putin's Russia, no missiles, tanks, or armored vehicles are expected to appear in Saturday's Red Square parade. Although the Kremlin offered no explanation for the dramatic scale-back, recent Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory have suggested that even Putin's militar

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US falls below Russia in survey of global perceptions

The global perception of the United States has fallen for a third consecutive year, now ranking several spots behind Russia, a survey commissioned by the Alliance of Democracies Foundations revealed on May 7.

Tensions mount in both Kyiv, Moscow ahead of Russia's Victory Day Parade

Editor's Note: Read the latest developments on Victory Day and Trump's surprise 3-day ceasefire. Tensions have been mounting this week ahead of Russia's Victory Day celebrations on May 9, with an apparent uptick in Ukrainian drone attacks prompting a flurry of speculation, ceasefire proposals, and threats of strikes and counterstrikes. What’s happening this weekend? If you take the rhetoric at face value, possibly a Ukrainian strike on Russia's most important parade of the year, and a massiv

Russian cadets walk past police guarding Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, Russia, on May 8, 2026.

About Russia

The Kyiv Independent’s coverage of news on Russia. Spanning eleven time zones across Eastern Europe and Asia, Russia has an estimated population of 146 million people. Russia’s capital city is Moscow, which is home to almost one in 10 Russians. Russia’s official currency is the Russian Ruble.

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Since mid-April, Ukraine has struck the Tuapse oil terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast four times, triggering major fires at one of the country's key oil export hubs despite active air defenses and repeated Russian claims of intercepted drones. The attacks have caused days-long fires, halted refinery operations, polluted parts of the coastline, and forced authorities into prolonged emergency response efforts. This raises a question: If Russia maintains one of the largest air defense networks

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