Rosenberg: Russia's Victory Day parade with no tanks a sign Ukraine war not going to plan

Rosenberg: Russia's Victory Day parade with no tanks a sign Ukraine war not going to planJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSteve RosenbergRussia Editor, MoscowNatalia Kolesnikova/Anadolu via Getty ImagesFor the first time in nearly two decades, there will be no military hardware at the Red Square Victory Day paradeOne word dominates Red Square right now: "Victory".The word Pobeda stares down from giant red banners. It flashes across video screens. Close by people are taking selfies beside an art installation that spells out the word.On the square, which is blocked off by metal barriers, soldiers are rehearsing for the annual Victory Day parade that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany.Russia's national idea, constructed under Vladimir Putin, centres around the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two. The ninth of May has become Russia's most important national holiday.But this year the 9 May parade is being scaled back. For the first time in nearly two decades there will be no military hardware on Red Square: no tanks, no ballistic missiles. Just soldiers.The way in which the Kremlin will be remembering the past says much about present: it's a sign that Russia's war on Ukraine is not going to plan."Our tanks are busy right now," Russian MP Yevgeny Popov tells me. "They are fighting. We need them more on the battlefield than on Red Square.""But with the war [on Ukraine] in its fifth year," I suggest, "not only has Russia not secured victory, but under pressure from Ukraine you're scaling back the parade. Some would say that's embarrassing.""What other choice do we have?" Popov replies. "Nato countries, Ukraine and Great Britain's weapons, your king and your prime minister, are threatening us."Yevgeny Popov, a Russian MP, says tanks are needed on the battlefield rather than on Red SquareIn February 2022 the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine was...