The Victory Day parade in Moscow's Red Square this year felt like a shadow of the grand spectacles that have long defined Russia's most cherished national celebration. Traditionally held on May 9 to mark the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II, the celebration has for years served not merely as a ceremonial occasion but as a carefully choreographed show of Russian military might and geopolitical swagger. Something felt different about it this time. The grand pageantry that Russians and the world have come to expect every year simply did not materialise. The most jarring absence was the...