In the parade on Red Square in Moscow on May 9, 2023, significantly fewer units of military equipment took part than in previous years. Analyst Oliver Alexander conducted calculations based on the broadcast.
According to his data, only 51 vehicles drove through the red square this year. Even last year, when the parade was already shortened compared to the time before Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, 131 combat vehicles took part in the parade. In 2021, there were 197 of them. That is, a decrease compared to the last pre-war year - almost four times.
The parade itself lasted about 45 minutes, including a detour of the troops and a speech by Vladimir Putin. In previous years, the duration of the parades reached an hour and a half, but then the parade included an aerial part, which was canceled this year.
Alexander, like many other commentators, drew attention to the lack of modern tanks. The passage of equipment was opened by a T-34 tank from the time of the Second World War, followed by light combat vehicles - "Tigers", then "Urals" and BMP "Boomerang", also Iskander, S-400 missile complexes and three intercontinental ballistic missiles passed through the red square "Yars". The passage of military equipment in the parade took less than 10 minutes.
In previous years, the passage of equipment took much longer, while modern Armata tanks and other machines were demonstrated, which, according to commentators, have no analogues in the world. At the same time, in combat operations in Ukraine, as many commentators noted, this equipment either did not participate at all, or was present at the front in very limited quantities.
