As Russia celebrates its 80-year-old victory over Nazi Germany, Putin wants the world to see that despite the new conflict in Europe, he still has friends in high places.

Ukrainian drone strikes have heightened anxiety across Moscow ahead of this year’s May 9 parade on Red Square, where President Vladimir Putin will be watching with other leaders.

Victory Day, celebrated on May 9, is Russia’s most important secular holiday, reflecting its wartime sacrifice. But it's also used by the Kremlin to bolster patriotism and regain the superpower prestige it lost when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.