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“Russia’s scaled-down Victory Day military parade on Tuesday showed not only Russia’s insecurities over possible Ukrainian attacks (security concerns were the ostensible reason for scaled-back events on May 9) but also showed military desperation.

The fact that only one Stalin-era tank was on display in the annual military parade through Red Square was particularly eye-catching, analysts noted.

“It would be hard to image a more fitting symbol of Russia’s declining military fortunes than the sight of a solitary Stalin-era tank trundling across Red Square during the country’s traditional Victory Day celebrations on May 9,” Peter Dickinson, editor of the UkraineAlert journal at the Atlantic Council, commented Tuesday.

“For the past two decades, Vladimir Putin has used Victory Day to showcase modern Russia’s resurgence as a military superpower, with dozens of the very latest tanks typically taking part in each annual parade. This year, however, the only tank on display was a T-34 model dating back to World War II,” he said, noting that the “embarrassing absence of tanks at this year’s Victory Day parade has been widely interpreted as further evidence of Russia’s catastrophic losses in Ukraine.”

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War also noted Tuesday that the Victory Day events showcased “no modern tanks, which Russia badly needs in Ukraine” and that it “demonstrated the further degradation of the Russian military, despite the Kremlin’s attempts in previous weeks to downplay Victory Day by downsizing parades and outright canceling events.”

Ukrainians themselves were quick to comment on the smaller Victory Day parade.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s official Twitter account quipped that “modern Russian military equipment can be found much more easily at Ukrainian military trophies exhibitions than at the Victory Parade in Moscow.””