And across the Black Sea, they are bracing for battle. With so much of Russia's military now at the front, Moscow’s Red Square saw a scaled-down May 9 Victory Day parade this year. Although Russia’s President Vladimir Putin did manage to convince leaders of seven former Soviet states to drop in, including some that have kept their distance from his “special military operation”. In Kyiv, May 9 was marked with the president of the EU Commission coming to celebrate Europe Day alongside the president of EU candidate country Ukraine.