Putin claims he’s cancelling public celebrations over safety fears. The truth is more humiliating | Samantha de Bendern

With even nationalist pro-war bloggers criticising Putin's actions in Ukraine, his desperation and paranoia are growing

May is traditionally a month for public celebration in Russia, with massive public processions on 1 May for Labour Day and military parades on 9 May for Victory Day, a holiday commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Not so in 2023. Russia's biggest trade union cancelled its traditional Labour Day demonstrations because of the heightened risk of terrorist activity", while regions near the Ukrainian border called off Victory Day parades so as to not provoke" the Ukrainian army.

The Russian government has warned people across the country to stay away from military installations on Victory Day, while the hugely popular Immortal Regiment, an event during which ordinary citizens all over Russia march with portraits of relatives who died in the second world war, has been moved online.

Samantha de Bendern is an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House and a political commentator on LCI television in France