Moscow Revokes Foreign Media Accreditation for Victory Day Parade

The Kremlin has significantly scaled back this year’s military parade marking the end of World War II. No military equipment will be displayed at the 9 May event in Moscow, and accreditation has been withdrawn from several foreign media outlets.

According to Spiegel, accreditations were revoked by phone for Germany’s ARD and ZDF, Sky, AFP, Italy’s Rai and Japan’s NHK.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that no one's accreditation had been cancelled but that due to changes to the format of the parade, a limit had been placed on the number of foreign journalists allowed to cover the event.

Some media organizations have been told that only Russian outlets will be allowed to attend. Reports suggest this is the first time foreign media were initially granted accreditation and then denied access.

Russia is marking the 81st anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender to the Soviet Union. Victory Day is one of the country’s most important public holidays. In previous years, the celebrations have included large-scale parades featuring tanks, missile systems and other military equipment. This year, however, the parade will take place without vehicles due to the “current operational situation”, according to the Defense Ministry.

(max)