Moscow shuts down airports and mobile signals as Victory Day parade looms

Russia shut down airports and temporarily cut mobile internet access for many users in Moscow on Tuesday, as it tightened security ahead of the 9 May Victory Day parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The parade – Russia’s foremost national celebration – has already been scaled back and will proceed without heavy military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades, amid fears of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes.

Ukraine has recently demonstrated its ability to penetrate Moscow’s dense air defence systems: on Monday morning, a drone struck a high-rise apartment building just a few miles from the Kremlin.

In what appeared to be an effort to shield the military parade, Moscow earlier this month declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ukraine for 8-9 May and warned of a “massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if it were violated.

Ukraine dismissed the proposal as a cynical ploy to protect the parade from drone attacks. Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by announcing a separate truce from 6 May, saying it was “not serious” to expect Kyiv to observe a ceasefire tied to a Russian military holiday.

Speaking during a visit to Armenia, Zelenskyy said Moscow feared that “drones may buzz over Red Square.”

Security in the Russian capital has been visibly tightened in the run-up to the parade, with checkpoints set up across the city and snipers and machine-gun crews deployed on Kremlin towers.

Residents on Tuesday woke to dead mobile signals across Moscow. The disruption hit workers hardest, with taxi drivers saying they were unable to receive fares, and delivery couriers forced to knock on customers’ doors and ask to use home wifi just to mark orders as complete. By midday, access appeared to have been largely restored.

All four of Moscow’s airports also suspended operations on Tuesday over unspecified security concerns.

Russian officials have previously justified such shutdowns as necessary to protect the capital from drone attacks and acts of sabotage – a deeply unpopular measure that has dented Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings in recent weeks.

Alongside the heightened security presence on Moscow’s streets, Russia has also stepped up personal protection for Vladimir Putin in recent months, according to a European intelligence report cited by the outlet iStories.

Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO), which is responsible for guarding senior officials, has significantly tightened security around the president. He is said to be spending more time in underground bunkers, closely managing the war effort, and has become increasingly removed from civilian life.

The report added that cooks, bodyguards and photographers who work with the president are also banned from travelling on public transport, amid fears in the Kremlin of a possibly assassination attack on the president.