There are no tanks," said Yelena Orlova, watching the vehicles rumble down Moscow's Novy Arbat avenue after leaving Red Square. There was no fly-over of military jets, and the event lasted less than the usual hour. Even the procession in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, featured some 13,000 soldiers, and last year, 11,000 troops took part. Some 8,000 troops took part in the parade in Moscow's Red Square on Tuesday - the lowest number since 2008. But this year's celebrations were markedly smaller, at least partially because of security concerns after several drone attacks have been reported inside Russia. Putin has often used patriotic rhetoric that harkens back to the earlier war in an effort to rally his citizens and forces - and May 9 is one of the most important dates in the Russian political calendar. "A real war has been unleashed against our motherland." "Today civilization is once again at a decisive turning point," Putin said at the annual commemorations celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Complete coverage of the war in Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies say they pose no such threat and that Moscow's war is meant to deter Western influence in a country that Russia considers part of its sphere of influence. The Russian leader has repeatedly sought to paint his invasion of Ukraine as necessary to defend against a Western threat. Ukrainian authorities said air defenses destroyed 23 of 25 missiles launched. Putin's remarks came just hours after Moscow fired its latest barrage of cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than 14 months ago. President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that the West has unleashed "a real war" against Russia, reprising a familiar refrain at scaled-down Victory Day celebrations that may reflect the toll the Ukraine conflict is taking on his forces.
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