Moscow on Tuesday closed its airports and temporarily restricted mobile internet access for many users, tightening security measures ahead of the May 9 Victory Day parade.
These actions come amid fears of Ukrainian drone strikes and a significant reduction in the parade’s scale. This year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade will proceed without a display of heavy military equipment. The parade, which commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany, is Russia’s main national holiday.
Fears of Drone Attacks
Fears of attacks intensified after Ukraine recently demonstrated its ability to penetrate Moscow’s dense air defense systems. This was notably seen when a drone struck a multi-story residential building just a few kilometers from the Kremlin on Monday morning.
Earlier this month, Moscow announced a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine for May 8-9, an apparent attempt to secure the military parade. Russia warned of “a massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if the truce was violated.
Ukraine rejected Moscow’s proposal, calling it “a cynical trick” to protect the parade from drone attacks. In response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, announced a separate truce starting May 6. During a visit to Armenia, Zelenskyy stated that it was “unserious” to expect Kyiv to observe a ceasefire linked to a Russian military holiday, and that Moscow fears that “drones might buzz over Red Square.”
Heightened Security Measures and Their Impact
Security in the Russian capital noticeably intensified ahead of the parade. Checkpoints were set up across the city, and snipers and machine gun crews were deployed on the Kremlin towers.
Moscow residents on Tuesday woke up to a city-wide mobile service outage. This disruption hit workers the hardest: taxi drivers could not receive orders, and delivery couriers were forced to knock on clients’ doors to ask to use home Wi-Fi to complete orders. By noon, mobile service was largely restored.
All four Moscow airports suspended operations on Tuesday due to undeclared security concerns. Russian officials had previously justified such shutdowns as necessary to protect the capital from drone attacks and acts of sabotage. These shutdowns are an extremely unpopular measure, which has lowered Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings in recent weeks.
Source: Reuters
