According to Ukraine’s Chief Directorate of Military Intelligence (GOER), the deputy head of the Russian administration has arrived in Mariupol to prepare for the parade. Mariupol will become a center of Russian festivities. The city’s main avenues will be cleared, debris and bodies of the dead removed, as well as unexploded ordnance,” the GOER said in a statement to Telegram.
Russian viewers will see reports of residents’ “joy” at the arrival of Russians in the city, the GOER added, citing the Kremlin’s “massive propaganda campaign”.
The Russians have almost completely taken strategically important Mariupol. According to Ukraine, the Russian army has also launched an offensive on the Azovstal factory, the last stronghold of resistance. However, Russia itself denies that it stormed the steel factory.
On May 9, a large parade is traditionally held in Moscow on Red Square, with which Russia commemorates the 1945 victory over Hitler’s Germany. The Russian Defense Minister has already announced that parades will take place in 28 Russian cities this year.