This year’s Victory Day parade in Moscow was “extremely low key,” according to Nicholas Drummond, a defense industry consultant.

Thousands of troops gathered in Red Square outside the Kremlin for the memorial, with Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterating his justifications for invading Ukraine.

The scheduled air part of the yearly celebration, has been cancelled owing to weather, according to a Kremlin official.

“Very low key,” Drummond says.

“But there was a discipline and precision about it that was absent last time. Look of steely resolve on many faces. Suggests that Putin has consolidated his power base rather than being weakened by recent events.”