“In Saint Petersburg, the parade was decided to be reduced by 18 times”: an expert explained what Putin is afraid of

Political strategist Mikhail Sheitelman said that the May 9 parade in Russia was decided to be significantly reduced, oddly justifying it by Ukraine’s losses at the front, but in reality fearing that everything at the parade could be destroyed, Politeka reports.

He spoke about this on his blog.

“Russians got scared in advance. And what had been rumors has, in general, partly turned out to be true. By the way, my prediction hasn’t yet come true. I said there would be something remote, but we may still see it. Maybe Putin will review the parade remotely, I don’t know. But for now, it has been announced that there will be no military equipment at the parade. Even on November 7, 1941, military equipment was found — as they said, it went straight from Red Square to the front. This time, it’s no longer possible,” notes Mikhail Sheitelman.

According to him, only aircraft flying at low altitude and marching troops will take part in the parade, reportedly due to the operational situation. Incidentally, he adds, cadets from military schools will also not participate, though it is unclear what has happened to them.

Peskov, he notes, said that the parade would be held in a reduced format because Ukraine is allegedly losing territory on the battlefield every day and is now engaging in terrorist activity. In other words, the expert comments, Russian forces are supposedly advancing too quickly, and therefore fear that Ukraine might destroy them.

“That’s why they decided not to stick their necks out on May 9, especially in the center of Moscow. Logical? A real ‘victory.’ They decided to hide their army so that, God forbid, the ‘Kyiv regime’ would not find out where it is. Logical adjustments have been made to the parade format. By the way, in Saint Petersburg, the parade was decided to be reduced 18-fold. The parade will take place without equipment and without the participation of cadets. I would advise them to crawl on their bellies — then there would be less chance that the ‘Kyiv regime’ would hit them. Initially, 5,600 guests were planned for the parade in St. Petersburg, but now there will be just one stand with 300 seats,” concludes Mikhail Sheitelman.