INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Petersburg held nighttime World War II victory parade rehearsals late Thursday as Russian forces continued their push to capture territory
in eastern Ukraine.Russia marks 77 years since the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9 with a landmark military parade on Red Square
aiming to boost domestic patriotic sentiment and projecting its might abroad.State media showed videos of military vehicles sweeping through
the empty streets of central Moscow.In St
Ulitsa, a key part of the procession, reported being visited by police officers this week and asked whether citizens of Ukraine live in
their buildings, according to the independent Mediazona news website.Elsewhere, authorities in the Belgorod region neighboring Ukraine
blames on Kyiv have rattled the Belgorod region in the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb
bombers, Su-57 stealth fighters as well as attack and transport helicopters.Eight MiG-29SMT fighter jets will fly in the shape of the letter
during a nearly eight-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station.The rehearsal for the parade began at around 8 p.m
Moscow time and ended shortly before midnight
Two more rehearsals are expected on May 4 and May 7.With heavily sanctioned Russia facing international isolation over its unprovoked
invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin said Friday that no foreign dignitaries have been invited to attend the May 9 parade.In 2021, President
Vladimir Putin was accompanied by Emomali Rahmon, who has ruled over the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan for nearly 30 years.A number
of ex-Soviet Russian allies, including Moldova and Kazakhstan, have banned World War II parades this year
toward eastern Ukraine for the second phase of its campaign in late March.
