Russia's annual Victory Day parade, marking the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II, took place on Thursday. In the past a venue for military displays, this year's parade was more subdued, as President Vladimir Putin presides over a ratings slump and strained international relationships. Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories. MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin watched intercontinental nuclear missile launchers roll across Red Square on Thursday as Russia put on its annual show of military might to mark the Soviet Union's World War Two victory over the Nazis. Read more: What it was like in the room when Nazi Germany finally surrendered to end World War II in Europe Battling a ratings slump as Russia grinds through a sixth consecutive year of falling real incomes, Putin looked on as thousands of troops marched past and columns of tanks rumbled across the famous square in a display reminiscent of the Cold War era. Putin, whose term ends in 2024, reviewed the parade from a tribune packed with Soviet war veterans, some of whom wore rows of campaign medals and clutched red roses. Read more: How Soviet troops taunted the Nazis during their final drive to Berlin in World War II "We have done and will do everything necessary to ensure the high level of readiness of our armed forces," Putin said. "We call on all countries to recognise our common responsibility to create a security system that is effective and equal for everyone."<doc-sep>Moscow -- Russia marked its annual national Victory Day holiday Thursday with the usual large military parade overseen by President Vladimir Putin, as well as huge commemorative processions that have recently become a feature of the event. Putin watched thousands of troops and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles as they passed through Red Square, before hosting a reception at the Kremlin where he showed a softer side. He was photographed there warmly embracing his childhood schoolteacher, Vera Gurevich. In his address to the crowd, Putin pledged to strengthen Russia's armed forces. The parade, which celebrated the 74th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, featured 13,000 troops and 130 pieces of military equipment, from WWII-era T34 tanks to massive Yars ICBM carriers. A Soviet-era tradition that Putin revived early in his presidency after a pause following the Soviet Union’s collapse, the parade also shows off some of Russia’s most advanced military hardware. This year's showcase included Russia’s new Armata tanks as well its S400 anti-aircraft missiles. In his speech, Putin said that “we have done and will do everything necessary to ensure the high combat capability of our armed forces.” But he added: "At the same time, Russia is open for cooperation with all who are ready to resist terrorism, neo-Nazism and extremism." This year's celebration was slightly more low-key, with no world leaders in attendance beyond Kazakhstan’s recently resigned president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The traditional military flyover was also canceled due to bad weather. Organizers normally try to ensure clear skies by using planes to seed the clouds so it rains before the event instead of during -- but the technique only seemed to produce sunshine later in the day. The American actor Steven Seagal -- who Putin made a special envoy for humanitarian affairs with the United States in 2017 -- also watched the parade. Long Russia’s most important secular holiday, Victory Day has in recent years taken on increased significance as the country has taken a more militaristic and nationalistic turn under Putin. Since Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014 and the resulting rupture with the West, authorities have increasingly turned to celebrations of Russian military power to unify the country behind Putin. Thursday's Victory Day celebrations included a military parade at Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in Syria, the hub for Russia's air campaign in support of Bashar al-Assad’s government. Syrian army troops joined Russian troops and armored equipment for the event. Celebrations were also held in dozens of other Russian cities, as well as in other former Soviet countries. Hundreds of thousands of people across Russia also took part in the so-called ‘Immortal Columns,’ huge processions of marchers holding up placards with photographs of their relatives killed in the war. The marches are a recent innovation, first held on a large scale in 2015, and some critics have accused the Kremlin of co-opting what was initially a grassroots movement into a propaganda exercise. The holiday, however, evokes strong emotions in a country where almost every family lost someone during the war. An estimated 27 million Soviet citizens died in World War II, dwarfing the losses sustained by U.S. and European allies. In contrast, the U.S. is estimated to have suffered around 415,000 casualties. "The memory of victory, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, is the glue of the nation, binding together the most diverse of ages and social groups,” Andrey Kolesnikov, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote Wednesday in an op-ed for The Moscow Times. But, Kolesnikov wrote, the holiday "is also the main marketing tool employed to legitimize Russia’s current political regime” in the person of Putin. “He is the thread woven through time sustaining this glory. In turn, anyone who criticizes Putin is implicitly criticizing Russia’s great history and its heroic victory.”<doc-sep>From an overcast Red Square on Thursday, Vladimir Putin evoked images of national unity, history and sacrifice to claim the mantle of defeating Nazi Germany and protecting against modern-day fascism. “We understand the enduring value of our people’s military triumph,” he said. “Our people not only defended and saved [their] Motherland. They also became a rock for mankind, the main liberator of Europe.” Mr Putin’s short speech, made at the beginning of Russia’s traditional Victory Day parade, made no reference to the role allied powers or other nations of the Soviet Union played in defeating Hitler. He also committed Russia to continue to boost its military and create “the most modern defence capacities”. But in calling for security cooperation, and concentrating on the role of war veterans and their families, the president’s rhetoric seemed to take a less aggressive route than previous years. 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Getty Kim-Putin summit: Leaders meet for first talks in Russia Putin earlier met with Kim Jong Un's father and former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2002 AP The cloudy weather, meanwhile, made sure that the hardware part of the parade was similarly toned down. Many of Russia’s military top trumps rumbled over Red Square’s cobblestones as before: beginning with vintage T-34 tanks and ending with cutting-edge S-400 anti-aircraft missiles and the behemoth Yars and Iskander launchers designed for intercontinental nuclear payloads. But the second part of the parade, an aerial flyover, was cancelled at the last minute, with authorities citing safety concerns amid the poor weather. In previous years authorities have been known to disperse clouds using silver iodide. With Sunday’s tragic air accident at Sheremetyevo airport still fresh in the memory, they appeared to be taking no chances. Watching on from the stands, alongside hundreds of posh-suited dignitaries including Steven Seagal, were a smaller number of surviving veterans. Vladimir Putin holds a portrait of his father Vladimir Spiridonovich during Victory Day (AP) According to various reports in Russian media, the VIP guest list resulted in only a fraction of the veterans who wanted to attend being given tickets. But for those who did make the cut, it was an opportunity to dress up, remember fallen comrades and revel in rare attention. “Victory Day is everything to me,” said Nikolai Morozov, 91, who served as a young boy in the Russian navy from 1942 onwards. “It’s like a gulp of air. You feel your old self again. Give me a new leg and I’ll be down there marching with them.” Mr Morozov, who assisted British-led Arctic convoys in delivering crucial cargo and munitions to the Soviet Union, described himself as a committed supporter of the Russian president. But, he said, it was a matter of “great regret” that Russia’s “resurgence” had come at the expense of relations with Europe. “It’s a mistake to break from Europe,” he said. “I count many Englishmen as my friends. But making our army strong again is a good thing. We can’t survive any other way.” With perhaps 20 million war dead, the Soviet Second World War sacrifice occupies a major role in Russian psychology. It is estimated that as many as three-quarters of the adult population tune in to watch the broadcast from Moscow. Recommended China refuses to join nuclear talks with US and Russia The first parade to honour the fallen was held in 1945. But it was only two decades later, under the militaristic leadership of Leonid Brezhnev, that Victory Day became an event similar in style to today’s parade. Even then, only four military parades took place: 1945, 1965, 1985 and 1990. In his 19 years in power Vladimir Putin has pinned his presidential colours to the Victory Day mast, overseeing a massive increase in military expenditure and a growing militarisation of the parade. Ten years ago, military hardware was reintroduced for the first time since the end of the Soviet Union. Marching formations have also been extended to include police and security services – and latterly, and most controversially, children. This is no accident, said Lev Gudkov, director of the Levada Centre, Russia’s most respected sociological research group. Militarisation is the Kremlin’s best shot at creating its much-sought national consensus, he said. “There is no other mechanism. They need the idea of an external enemy for Russians to accept all the sacrifices currently being imposed on them.” According to Grigory Yudin, professor at Russia’s Higher School of Economics, the Kremlin has appropriated an obvious resource: the only “incontrovertible national celebration” outside of new year. “It is only natural that it would look to channel the collective emotion to support its militarism,” he said. But, he added, the recent militarisation has also provoked "a contradictory moment, and a split, not so much in society but in people themselves.” Recommended How EU expansion in the east drove Brexit and made Russia an enemy According to Levada’s most recent research, less than 30 per cent of Russians say they are in favour of a militarised parade. On the contrary, more than half say the day should be spent taking better care of veterans. Sociologist Gudkov, whose research famously introduced the idea of Homo Sovieticus, the Soviet creature who developed doublethink as a way to deal with the horrors of Stalinist repression, said a similar mechanism is again at play with Homo Putinus. “It is not so much schizophrenia, as different levels of personality,” he said. “On one level, contemporary Russian man feels pride; on another, he recoils at the falsity of it all. “He is happy to embrace the collective rhetoric, but also is sure to keep his distance from government.”<doc-sep>
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin watched intercontinental nuclear missile launchers roll across Red Square on Thursday as Russia put on its annual show of military might to mark the Soviet Union’s World War Two victory over the Nazis. Battling a ratings slump as Russia grinds through a sixth consecutive year of falling real incomes, Putin looked on as thousands of troops marched past and columns of tanks rumbled across the famous square in a display reminiscent of the Cold War era. Putin, whose term ends in 2024, reviewed the parade from a tribune packed with Soviet war veterans, some of whom wore rows of campaign medals and clutched red roses. “We have done and will do everything necessary to ensure the high level of readiness of our armed forces,” Putin said. “We call on all countries to recognize our common responsibility to create a security system that is effective and equal for everyone.” Russia’s ties with the West soured following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and Moscow has continued to challenge the United States through its staunch support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro. World leaders have attended in the past, but were conspicuous by their absence on Thursday, something the Kremlin played down. Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned as Kazakh president in March after three decades in power, was the only notable foreign guest. The Kremlin said it had not invited foreign heads of state but next year’s 75th anniversary would be marked with greater pomp as a major milestone. Slideshow ( 39 images ) The authorities, backed by state media, use the annual event to boost patriotic feeling at home, something that could help lift Putin’s approval rating which, though still high at 66 percent in April, is down from nearly 90 percent five years ago. The display of raw military power is also designed to show the world and potential buyers of military hardware how a modernization program has changed the face of the Russian military and arms industry. However, military experts say various problems mean Russia had yet to produce in large numbers some of its newest hardware, such as the T-14 Armata battle tank, despite their Red Square outings. NO NEW SHOW-STOPPING WEAPONS Putin has sharply increased military spending over the nearly 20 years he has dominated Russian politics, handed the Russian military significant policy-making clout, and deployed Russian forces in Ukraine and Syria, stoking tensions with the West. As commander-in-chief, he has also at times donned military uniform himself and been filmed at the controls of a strategic bomber and on the conning tower of a submarine in photo opportunities designed to boost his man of action image. Slideshow ( 39 images ) Weapons displayed on Red Square included Russia’s Yars mobile intercontinental nuclear missile launcher and its advanced S-400 air defense missile system, which Moscow has deployed in Syria to protect its forces. But this year’s parade was notable for the lack of major show-stopping new weapons or pieces of military hardware. Some politicians in former Soviet republics and satellite states regard the parade as crude sabre-rattling by a resurgent Russia they say poses a threat to Europe’s security. Russia dismisses such allegations as nonsense. (The refiled story changes crosshead.)