Thousands of military personnel continue to rehearse with ballistic missile launchers and tanks for this year’s Victory Day parade in Russia when Vladimir Putin may declare war on the West.
Each year Russia celebrates its triumph over Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of the Second World War on May 9, and this year it has extra significance.
Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what he called a “special operation to de-Nazify” the country and it was widely expected that he wanted to use this year’s celebrations in May to announce a success in that mission.
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But with Russia having faced stiff resistance from Ukrainians the invasion has not gone to plan and they have been forced to concentrate their attacks on the east of Ukraine having failed to topple Kyiv.
This year considerable effort has been put into the victory parade with regular rehearsals using heavy military being taken through the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg in an intended show of strength.
State media has been showing the military convoys and on Thursday night there were vast numbers of soldiers marching through Palace Square.
It comes as UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said that he would not be surprised if Putin now instead uses the May Day parade to declare a war on the West.
Russia’s defence ministry published an interactive map on Friday of the parade which showed 33 marching columns of Russian troops, cadets and members of security agencies, reported the Moscow Times.
Armaments on display included T-14 tanks, S-400 air defence systems, rocket launchers and infantry fighting vehicles.
The air division showed off 77 aircraft including Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, Su-57 stealth fighters as well as attack and transport helicopters.
There are expected to be further rehearsals on May 4 and 7 before the big day for Putin’s regime.
This year with Russia facing global isolation, there have been no foreign dignitaries invited.
Mr Wallace has said that Putin may declare a war on the West and start “mass” mobilisation of Russians to fight in Ukraine, during the May Day celebrations.
He told LBC : “I would not be surprised . . . that he is probably going to declare on May Day that ‘we are now at war with the world’s Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people’.”
He continued: “Putin, having failed in nearly all objectives, may seek to consolidate what he's got . . . and just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country. We have to help Ukrainians effectively get the limpet off the rock and keep the momentum pushing them back.”
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