Vladimir Putin says Russia facing 'difficult' period in 'Victory Day' celebration

May 9 (UPI) -- Russia's Victory Day celebrations, marking the 79th anniversary of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, kicked off Thursday with a scaled-back military parade in Moscow's Red Square with President Vladimir Putin saying his country was going through a "difficult" time.

However, in an attacking speech in which he accused the West of "instigating new conflicts," Putin pledged Russia stood ready to repel any threat.

"Russia will do everything to avert a global confrontation. At the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always combat ready," he said. "Russia is now going through a difficult, milestone period, the fate of the Motherland, its future depends on each of us," said Putin.

"Today, on Victory Day, we realize this even more acutely and clearly," Putin added, insisting that the country was fully behind his war on Ukraine, which by law must be referred to as a "Special Military Operation."

The whole of Russia was with the "heroes" of the special military operation, he said.

The parade involving 9,000 personnel, 70 pieces of military hardware and attended by heads of state ranging from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to the leaders of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Cuba comes as Russian forces make steady gains in eastern Ukraine, with a large-scale offensive expected within weeks.

Strained relations with the West have further deteriorated since Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbor with a ramping up of international sanctions on Moscow and increasingly divided the world with NATO countries on one side and Russia moving closer to China, North Korea and Iran and China.

The drain of the 27-month-long war on Russia's military machine made itself felt in Thursday's parade which featured just one tank, a WWII-era T-34, compared with at least 20 four years back.

Russia has seen 3,000 tanks destroyed in the fighting in Ukraine, more than its entire pre-war stock, forcing it to begin refitting old ones, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

Despite the dent in its capability, the number of tanks Russia can bring to bear in combat outnumber those Ukraine has available two-to-one.

It also has sufficient stores of armored vehicles to resupply those lost of the battlefield for many years to come, the ISS said.