Russia's Putin defends Ukraine invasion in "Victory Day" speech celebrating Soviet WWII win over Nazis - CBS News

By comparison, last year's parade saw around 190 vehicles, while the 75th anniversary marking the end of what is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War was nearly double in size, with 234 vehicles on display.Notably absent from this year's formation plan were scores of weapons involved directly in Ukrainian hostiles, like anti-aircraft complexes Pantsir S-1, heavy multiple rocket launcher "Smerch" as well as T-80 tanks.An open-source intelligence analyst Oliver Alexander noted that the armored vehicles used by the Russian National Guard were also missing this year."[The vehicles] are being used extensively in the invasion of Ukraine and have suffered heavy losses," Alexander said in a tweet.During his speech, Putin held a moment of silence for Russian casualties of his war in Ukraine, promising to offer assistance to the families of fallen Russian soldiers.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered his own message on Monday, saying that Ukraine itself had been victorious against the Nazis during the Second World War, and that it would be again.Haley Ott is a digital reporter/producer for CBS News based in London.