Even against a backdrop of the War in Ukraine, Russia has often used the Victory Day parade to try and project strength to audiences at home and abroad. The 2025 Parade for the 80th anniversary was a major event – with representatives form dozens of countries attending as some of Russia’s most advanced military systems rolled through red square. This year, the heavy equipment was mostly only present on screens, most foreign leaders stayed away, and the parade was cut down in time and scale over ‘security concerns.’ It was a more humble display that prompted a number of news sources to quickly as if Ukraine had ‘turned the tide’.’ The thing is, even significant symbols are just that, symbols, and so today I want to look at some of the harder indicators of whether the balance on the Ukrainian battlefield has shifted at all since 2025. So let’s talk force (re)generation, territorial control

Source: A Shift In Ukraine? – The Frontline Balance, Forces & Moscow Parade