KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia enacted a major security measure ahead of Tuesday’s annual commemorations marking Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War Two, banning the use of drones, jet skis and car-sharing services in its largest cities amid its 14-month war with Ukraine.
At least 21 Russian cities have canceled May 9 military parades – the Victory Day celebrations across Russia – for the first time in years, Russian media said.
Regional officials blamed unspecified “safety concerns” for the restrictions and cancellations, or vaguely referred to “the current situation.” It was not clear if their decisions were made in coordination with the Kremlin.
Last week Russia – which did not witness the carnage Ukraine endured during the invasion – was rocked by ambiguous official reports that two Ukrainian drones flew into the heart of Moscow under cover of darkness, reaching the Kremlin before they did were shot down.
Media and local officials have blamed the Ukrainian military for other sporadic drone strikes, particularly targeting oil depots near the two countries’ border. Kiev officials declined to comment on such claims.
Fears of a possible Ukrainian attack seemed real, although parades will be held in Russia’s largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. But the use of drones was banned in both cities ahead of Victory Day.
In St. Petersburg, often dubbed the “Venice of the North” for its network of rivers and canals, jet ski use is banned in certain parts of the city until May 10. In the Russian capital, car-sharing services have been temporarily suspended from the city center – drivers cannot start or end journeys there – amid preparations for the traditional Red Square parade.
It was originally expected that only one foreign leader would take part in this year’s Moscow parade – Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Shaparov, who arrived on Monday and met with Putin for talks. That was one more foreign guest than last year, when no leaders left amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sweeping diplomatic isolation because of the war. At the time, the Kremlin said it hadn’t invited any because it wasn’t a “round anniversary.”
But on Monday officials announced that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon would attend the celebrations along with Putin and Shaparov, as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The latter two were surprising choices for the guest list, having strayed from Putin’s line in the past. Kazakhstan and Armenia, although Russia’s allies, have not publicly supported the war in Ukraine. In fact, Tokayev made several phone calls to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the invasion.
Tokayev also told Putin last summer that Kazakhstan would not recognize the Russian-held Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.
Pashinyan snubbed Moscow earlier this year by refusing to host military exercises by the Russian-dominated security alliance of which Armenia is a part, the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
May 9th is usually a public holiday in Ukraine as well, but not this year because of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday he has tabled a bill in parliament proposing a May 8 day of commemoration and the victory over Nazism in World War II and a May 9 Europe Day, moving Kiev further from Moscow becomes.
Zelenskyy equated Russia’s goals in Ukraine with those of the Nazis. “Unfortunately, evil has returned,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “Although it is now another aggressor, the goal is the same – enslavement or destruction.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is traveling to Kiev with Zelenskyy on Tuesday for Europe Day.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 35 Iranian-made drones over Kiev in Russia’s latest overnight attack as four civilians were killed in attacks by Kremlin forces across Ukraine, officials said on Monday.
According to Serhii Popko, head of the military administration of the city of Kiev, five people were injured in the capital by falling drone debris. An air raid alarm sounded for more than three hours during the night.
Debris from a drone hit a two-story apartment building in Kiev’s western Svyatoshynskyi district, while other debris hit a car parked nearby and set it on fire, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post.
Faced with economic sanctions and restrictions on its supply chains stemming from its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has routinely turned to Iranian Shahed drones to bolster its firepower.
Russian shelling of 127 targets in northern, southern and eastern Ukraine killed three civilians, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. Russian long-range bombers have fired up to eight cruise missiles at Ukraine’s southern Odessa region, authorities said. One person was killed and three injured.
Some of the Soviet-era cruise missiles fired at the Odessa region self-destructed or crashed into the sea before reaching their targets, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat.
Meanwhile, Russian-installed authorities have started evacuating residents of Tokmak, a frontline town in the southern Zaporizhia region, towards the Black Sea coast, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Those working for Kremlin-appointed local authorities, as well as children and educators, will be relocated to Berdyansk, a Russian-held coastal town about 100 kilometers south-east, sources said.
On Friday, the Russian-appointed governor of the partially occupied Zaporizhia region ordered the evacuation of civilians from 18 settlements there, including Enerhodar, which borders the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
Speculations about the timing and focus of Ukraine’s expected spring offensive have been piling up for months. Some analysts say Kiev may try to push south into Zaporizhia to split Russian forces and cut Moscow’s land link with occupied Crimea.
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