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By Isabel van Brugen
News Reporter
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Ukraine's Ministry of Defense published a video on Tuesday mocking the single Soviet-era tank that participated in Moscow's Red Square Victory Day parade.
"We watched Russia's 'Victory Day' parade today with great interest. Our tribute," the ministry said on its Twitter page, sharing a 40-second video that included clips from Tuesday's military parade.
A lone T-34 tank from a ceremonial unit was on parade in the capital on May 9. Victory Day is Moscow's annual commemoration of Nazi Germany's defeat during World War II. This year's event was notably muted in contrast to previous parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin typically uses the day of national celebration to show off the country's military power.
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"This Victory Day, Russia had exactly one tank rolling down Red Square...a T-34 first produced in 1940," the video's caption reads.
The clip shows a montage of the tank taken from broadcast footage of the parade, against the backdrop of Eric Carmen's hit song "All by Myself."
"To the loneliest little tank in the world...best of luck!" read the caption.
The pared-back military parade came amid reports that Russia has a shortage of tanks and tank crews.
On Wednesday, the British Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update on the war in Ukraine that the make-up of the parade "highlighted the materiel and strategic communications challenges the military is facing 15 months into the war in Ukraine."
"Over 8,000 personnel reportedly took part in the parade, but the majority were auxiliary, paramilitary forces, and cadets from military training establishments," it said. The update added that the only personnel from deployable formations of regular forces were contingents of railway troops and military police.
"A vintage T-34 from a ceremonial unit was the sole tank on parade. Despite heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia could have fielded more armoured vehicles," the ministry said.
"The authorities likely refrained from doing so because they want to avoid domestic criticism about prioritising parades over combat operations."
Sergej Sumlenny, an Eastern Europe expert with the European Resilience Initiative Center, previously told Newsweek that the parade was "a self-humiliation" for the Russians. "It will be certainly discussed among the people," he said, adding that he sees some logic behind Russia holding a muted military parade in Moscow this year.
"They want to sell a narrative 'we don't want to invest into a show when our army is fighting hard'...but this means that the Kremlin is concerned by the fact that they know the population is unhappy with high price of war," Sumlenny said.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.
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