Russia's Victory Day parade will have no military equipment for the first time in nearly two decades, a symbolic retreat driven by both Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia and the need to preserve depleted battlefield assets. Last year's 2025 parade was the largest since the 2022 invasion, featuring over 11,500 troops and 180+ military vehicles, making this year's scaled-back version a stark visual acknowledgment of wartime constraints. The decision signals that either security concerns or equipment shortages—likely both—now take priority over the propaganda spectacle Putin typically uses to project military strength to domestic and international audiences.