Putin watches Russian military parade featuring a solitary, Soviet-era tank

A solitary, symbolic tank has featured in Russia’s annual 9 May military parade for the second year in a row as the country was forced to pare down its normal display of military might during a full-scale war in which it has suffered unprecedented losses over the last two years.

The single tank to roll across Red Square as Vladimir Putin reviewed about 9,000 troops was a second world war-era T-34 carrying the banner that the Soviet Union used when it defeated Nazi Germany alongside other allies. The tank has gained iconic status, but is not in combat use and is instead a token of those that used to be part of the 9 May Victory Day celebrations.

It is just one way in which the largest land war in Europe since the second world war has affected Russia’s main military and political celebration. Photographs from Red Square also showed patrolmen carrying anti-drone rifles to guard against sabotage attacks that have become a concern due to the proliferation of drones on the battlefield – and increasingly at military and energy sites inside Russia.

During a separate meeting with Russian commanders fighting in Ukraine, Putin was asked about the possibility of expediting the construction of advanced drones like those used by Ukraine.

“We know how difficult it is for our fighters who are faced with the fact that enemy drones are flying overhead like flies – all this is known,” Putin told the commander. “We are working on this, and I am sure there will be a result.

Oryx, the open-source intelligence defence analysis website, estimates the Russian army has lost at least 3,000 tanks in the last two years, including 2,000 destroyed and another 514 captured by Ukraine. Those are of an estimated 15,724 lost armoured vehicles, including 11,202 that have been destroyed. The actual number is thought to be even higher.

Russia’s parade included several dozens of vehicles including BTR-82A armoured personnel carriers, several types of armoured vehicles, an armoured ambulance and the Yars mobile strategic missile systems, which can carry intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads.

Putin announced on Thursday that the Russian and Belarusian defence ministries had begun preparations for joint drills on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons. The Kremlin has called it a response to threats by the west, including Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to rule out sending French troops to fight in Ukraine.

Putin issued a familiar threat: “Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash, but at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us,” he said. “Our strategic [nuclear] forces are always on alert.”