May 9 marks Victory Day in Russia, or the celebration of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. It’s an annual tradition for Moscow to host a military parade through Red Square, and one that will continue on Saturday despite no military vehicles expected to participate due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

While it might be tempting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured the AFU won’t attack Red Square during the parade. This is in tandem with an announcement by the United States of a three-day ceasefire, which consists of a “suspension of all kinetic activity” along with a thousand-for-thousand prisoner swap.

“For the duration of the parade (starting 10 AM Kyiv time on May 9, 2026), the territorial square of Red Square shall be excluded from the plan for the use of Ukrainian weapons,” reads Zelenskyy’s decree that he issued on Friday. He also notes the order was given amid “numerous requests, with a humanitarian purpose outlined in negotiations with the American side”.

Amusingly, the proclamation also includes Red Square’s coordinates delineating which parts won’t be targeted. Of course, this also means anything in Moscow outside the Square is fair game, though the aforementioned ceasefire would likely mean otherwise for the weekend.

Victory Day used to be among Ukraine’s biggest national holidays, owing to its close ties with Russia and being a crucial Soviet republic during and after WWII. Since the start of the war between the two countries in 2014, Ukrainian opinion of the day has drastically shifted. Nowadays, many see the date as being weaponized by the Kremlin and turned a celebration of Russian jingoism.

After the full-scale invasion began in 2022, Ukraine instead began celebrating May 8 with the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II. The new date aligns with the German day of surrender as well as VE Day celebrated in western Europe and the United States. Ukraine has since also adopted Europe Day on May 9.

The Automobile Federation of Ukraine released two statements commemorating each holiday:

FAU celebrates the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II

Another twelve months have passed. May 8 is again on the calendar, and we again remember the events that took place more than eighty years ago. Unfortunately, Ukrainians do not forget about this for a single day, because the Russian fascists are still trampling our country, begging for a “truce” at least for one day for their parade. That war took almost six years for the world to come to its senses and finally give fascism a worthy rebuff in World War II. The current Russian war of aggression has been going on for five years…
So we are forced to once again wish all of us the strength and courage to resist Russian fascism in all its manifestations. We wish faith and hope for a bright future for our country and the entire caring World. We wish to live to see Victory! Our Victory! One that all of humanity will remember the hardships of fascism, at least for the third time, and forever!

FAU celebrates Europe Day

Today, we are very proud of our country and our people. While others glorify the cult of war and murder, holding a parade for the Russian fascist army, Ukrainians celebrate a friendly life in what is basically one multinational state. As modernity shows, despite all the hardships, it is the European Union that is the locomotive of democracy, humanity and honesty among the whole world.
Let us wish to dream of, we hope, a near and bright future in an equal union with the other 27 states on our continent. Let us wish not to retreat on the path to a democratic and free Ukraine. And we certainly wish us Victory in the modern war for the right to be as we want to be: Ukrainians!

Meanwhile, the Russian Automobile Federation simply proclaimed a “Happy Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War!”

For the record, no matter what shows up for Saturday’s procession, it’ll never be as cool as the parade that René Metge led through Red Square almost 34 years ago.

As we discussed last month, Metge created the Paris–Moscow–Beijing Rally as the ultimate rally raid. However, the planned debut in 1991 was put off after the attempted coup on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. While the putsch was thwarted, it happening so close to the race start led to postponement all the way to 1992.

By the time competitors departed Paris and began heading eastward on September 1, the Soviet Union was long dead and the Russian Federation instead welcomed them. After a series of “super liaisons” across continental Europe, Moscow served as the start of the Asian leg in every edition.

Red Square, being arguably Moscow’s most well-known landmark, was an obvious choice for the quasi-halfway mark. It was also supposed to be the starting point for MOVLAD, a rally from the capital to Vladivostok in 1991 that ended up being nothing more than vaporware.

For the Paris–Moscow–Beijing, a police escort took everybody into the city and toward the Kremlin walls. Saint Basil’s Cathedral loomed over the Citroëns and Mitsubishis as well as the native KAMAZs. Teams stayed in nearby hotels, basically the final comfortable lodging they got before staying in tents and bivouacs for the rest of the rally.

“Moscow strikes us as dreary and grimy. Even the air seems gray, drenched with industrial pollution,” The Plain Dealer‘s automotive reporter Christopher Jensen wrote. He raced a Jeep Grand Cherokee alongside fellow journalist Phil Berg and rally driver Bryant Hibbs.

“We drive as a convoy into the city and arrive in front of a floodlit St. Basil’s Cathedral at Red Square for a ceremony that includes fireworks and thousands of enthusiastic Muscovites seeking autographs.

“We are also introduced to what will become a standard, if scary, practice the attempt by spectators to touch the rally cars, apparently for good luck. One woman at Red Square carries a small baby up to the Jeep and lovingly presses its hands against the side. The crowd, however, is so worked up by the time we leave Red Square that many vehicles, including our Jeep, are rocked by the crowd and our American flag is ripped off by souvenir-hunters.”

The next morning, the “real” race began.