Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced confidence of victory in Ukraine as he oversaw a military parade on Red Square commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Speaking in front of hundreds of military personnel and flanked by a few world leaders, the Russian president said he was fighting a “just” war as he identified Ukraine an “aggressive force” that is being “armed and supported by the whole bloc of NATO”.

Security was tight in Moscow as Mr Putin and several foreign leaders attended the parade, even as a US-brokered three-day ceasefire eased concerns about possible Ukrainian attempts to disrupt the festivities.

Mr Putin, in power for more than a quarter of a century, has used Victory Day, Russia’s most important secular holiday, to showcase the country’s military might and rally support for his military action in Ukraine.

Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo travelled to the Russian capital for the celebrations.

Speaking at the parade, Mr Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, declaring that they “face an aggressive force that is armed and supported by the entire bloc of Nato”.

“Victory has always been and will be ours,” Mr Putin said as columns of troops lined up on Red Square.

“The key to success is our moral strength, courage and valour, our unity and ability to endure anything and overcome any challenge.”

But this year, for the first time in nearly two decades, the parade took place without tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons, aside from a traditional flyover of combat jets.

Officials said the sudden change of format was due to the “current operational situation” and pointed to the threat of Ukrainian attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the authorities have taken “additional security measures”.

Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire for Friday and Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a truce which was supposed to begin on May 6, but neither of them held as the parties traded blame for continuing attacks.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have bowed to his request for a ceasefire running from Saturday to Monday and an exchange of prisoners, declaring that the break in fighting could be the “beginning of the end” of the war.

Mr Zelensky, who said earlier this week that the Russian authorities “fear drones may buzz over Red Square” on May 9, followed up on Mr Trump’s statement by issuing a decree mockingly permitting Russia to hold its Victory Day celebrations on Saturday, declaring Red Square temporarily off-limits for Ukrainian strikes.

Mr Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, shrugged off Mr Zelensky’s decree as a “silly joke”.

“We don’t need anyone’s permission to be proud of our Victory Day,” Mr Peskov told reporters.

Russia’s bigger and better-equipped military has been making slow but steady gains along the more than 600-mile front line.

Ukraine has hit back with increasingly efficient long-range attacks, striking Russian energy facilities, manufacturing plants and military depots. It has developed drones capable of reaching targets more than 600 miles deep into Russia, far beyond its capabilities before 2022.

Russian authorities warned that if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Saturday’s festivities, Russia will carry out a “massive missile strike on the centre of Kyiv”.

The Russian Defence Ministry warned the civilian population there and employees of foreign diplomatic missions of “the need to leave the city promptly”. The EU said its diplomats would not leave the Ukrainian capital despite Russian threats.

Mr Putin has used Victory Day celebrations to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in 1941-45 in what it calls the Great Patriotic War, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche and remains a rare point of consensus in the nation’s divisive history under Communist rule.

Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved a broad array of heavy weapons — from armoured vehicles to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles — every year since 2008.

Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, but this time many of them have also been pared down or even cancelled altogether for security reasons.

As the troops prepared to march across Red Square on Saturday, the authorities ordered restrictions on all mobile internet access and text messaging services in the Russian capital, citing the need to ensure public safety. The government has methodically tightened internet censorship and established increasingly stringent controls over online activities, causing rumblings and rare public expressions of discontent.

Source: Associated Press And Agencies