The weather was chilly and the spectators were fewer than usual at Moscow's muted Victory Day celebration on Thursday, even as Russian troops advance in Ukraine.

"We should all unite on a day like this," Nadezhda Petrova, a 40-year-old lawyer, told AFP as she watched the parade of military hardware from behind a metal barrier.

She said she was a "patriot" who comes every year to pay homage to the soldiers lost in World War II and wanted to "pass this on to our children and educate them with this feeling of pride in our country".

But only a few thousand people turned out in the streets of central Moscow to watch the parade as the snow fell.

There are annual celebrations across Russia for the Soviet victory over Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in a conflict in which 27 million Soviet citizens died.

President Vladimir Putin has long used the anniversary as a way of bolstering national pride and his own power by evoking Soviet glory.

 'Difficult times' 

 Security was tight in the streets of central Moscow, with police officers standing every 10 metres along the barriers as large red flags fluttered bearing the word "Victory!".

Putin oversaw the military parade on Red Square, alongside several ex-Soviet leaders.

But even though 9,000 personnel took part, according to Russian media, the parade was more modest than usual.

The ceremony was wrapped up quickly as spectators tried to capture the moment on their phones -- a few metres from the Kremlin's red walls.

"The snow, the chilly wind, all this together makes for an incredible emotion," said Svetlana Sycheva, a 48-year-old who wore a military cap like her daughter.

Echoing Putin, who spoke a few moments earlier, she said Russia was going through "difficult times" -- a cautious but direct reference to the conflict with Ukraine.

  'It's better, safer' 

 Just as in 2023, the threat of Ukrainian strikes put a dampener on the usually lavish celebrations.

This year, there were additional security concerns after the attack on Crocus City Hall in March, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The march of the "Immortal Regiment" in which hundreds of thousands of people usually take part, holding up images of relatives who died in the Second World War, was cancelled in Moscow and other Russian regions.

"It's better, safer," said Alexander Terentyev, a 21-year-old IT worker.

The young man said he felt "secure" watching the impressive military technology parading in front of him.

Since February 2022, Putin has made constant parallels between World War II -- known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia -- and the campaign in Ukraine, claiming that Russian troops are fighting against "neo-Nazis".

That comparison is constantly repeated by state media and the sentiment is echoed by many Russians.

"We are one country," said Sergei Rogovsky, a 61-year-old engineer who said he studied in Ukraine, as he parroted parts of Putin's speech.