Image source, REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

The UK's Ministry of Defence has shared its daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war. Here are today's key points:

• At the start of its invasion, Russia publicly promoted its ability to conduct surgical strikes and limit collateral damage. It said Ukraine's cities would therefore be safe from bombardment
• Russia's stockpile of precision-guided munitions has probably been heavily depleted as the war continues longer than the Kremlin expected. This has forced Russia to use munitions that are aging, less reliable and accurate, and more easily intercepted
• The invasion of Ukraine has revealed shortcomings in Russia's ability to conduct precision strikes at scale. Russia has subjected Ukraine to indiscriminate bombardments with little or no regard for civilian casualties

Image source, Reuters

Russia's annual Victory Day parade is due to get started at 08:00 BST (07:00 GMT) with President Vladimir Putin attending the event in Moscow, as he attempts to rally public support for the war in Ukraine.

The parade commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, but Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia's bombardment of cities and mass deportations mirrored the crimes of the Nazis.

You can watch live BBC News Channel coverage by clicking the 'play' button at the top of this page.

Image source, EPA

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has used Victory Day to call on Russia's leader to end the war in Ukraine immediately.

He's told German newspaper Die Welt that Vladimir Putin should pull his troops back from Ukraine and start peace negotiations. "We stand firmly by Ukraine's side and will continue to help the country assert its right to self-defence," he says.

Stoltenberg says the Russian president has regularly used his 9 May address to spread falsehoods about the West and criticise Nato: "I expect Putin again on 9 May this year to spread lies about Nato and the West as a whole."

He has rejected Russia's claims that Nato has actedly aggressively, insisting it's a defensive alliance built to secure peace and uphold the values of freedom and democracy.

Image source, Get

Whatever else Russia's Victory Day parade is supposed to represent, it won't be any sort of victory over Ukraine, regardless of the spin President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin will try to put on it, writes defence analyst Michael Clarke.

Putin now has few options but to keep going forward to make this war bigger - either bigger in Ukraine or bigger by advancing beyond its borders. Escalation is built into the current situation and Europe has reached a very dangerous moment in its recent history.

Having failed with Plan A to seize the government in Kyiv before President Zelensky's forces, or the outside world, could react, Moscow then switched to a Plan B. This was a more "manoeuvrist" military approach to surround Kyiv and move in on other Ukrainian cities - Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Mariupol and Mykolaiv and simply snuff out Ukrainian armed resistance while Kyiv itself would be threatened with capitulation or destruction.

This, too, failed. Kherson was the only major city that fell under Russian control and has since continued to resist Russian administration. The fact is that Russian forces were too small to dominate such a big country; they performed very poorly for a mixture of reasons; they were badly led and dispersed around four separate fronts, from Kyiv to Mykolaiv, with no overall commander.

And they turned out to be up against a determined and well-trained Ukrainian army who fought them to a standstill in a classic demonstration of "dynamic defence" - not holding a line but rather hitting the attackers at points of maximum vulnerability.

In frustration, Russia has now moved to "plan C", which is to give up on Kyiv and the north, instead concentrating all its forces for a major offensive in the Donbas region and across the south of Ukraine, probably as far as the port of Odesa in the south-west - effectively to landlock the country.

Read in full

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

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UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace wants to challenge Russia’s use of suffering and commemoration on its 9 May parade - an annual event marking the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War - which he says will hide their military’s poor leadership in Ukraine.

Wallace says Russia’s generals have shown a “disgraceful display of self preservation and doubling down on failure”.

In his speech at the National Army Museum, Wallace will say all professional soldiers should be appalled by the behaviour of the Russian Army.

He’ll say their top brass have engaged in war crimes and have failed their own troops.

Wallace says they should be court-martialled. That seems highly unlikely.

But Britain’s defence secretary says he wants to call out the absurdity of them parading in manicured uniforms with medals – when he says they’re as much to blame as Russian President Vladimir Putin for the suffering in Ukraine.

Paul Kirby
Digital Europe editor

Image source, Reuters

There has been speculation that President Putin may use the occasion of Victory Day to make a major announcement, perhaps even declare all-out war on Ukraine, as opposed to what it currently refers to as a “special military operation”, but the Kremlin has denied it has such plans.

Something short of full mobilisation could be announced, in response to Russia's big losses on the battlefield. Dozens of ads have appeared on job websites in recent weeks looking for "specialists in mobilisation work", but such a step could hit the president's popularity and Victory Day might not be the right time to announce it.

After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, Putin marked Victory Day with a speech in Red Square on defeating fascism, before flying to the Black Sea port of Sevastopol to celebrate his new victory in front of thousands of onlookers.

"This year the primary objective was to announce the victory that was supposed to happen in February [when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began]," says Ernest Wyciszkiewicz of the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding.

Instead of celebrating the overthrow of Ukraine's government, the Kremlin will have to settle for the capture of most of Mariupol. The southern city may lie in ruins, but Russia has repeatedly talked of "de-Nazification and demilitarisation" of Ukraine and it may claim defeat of the Azov battalion, which it falsely portrays as Nazi. While it does have ultra-nationalist members, it is now overseen by the Ukrainian government.

For Russians, defeating it would resonate on a day marking victory in World War Two.

Jonathan Marcus
Foreign affairs analyst

The performance of the Russian military in Ukraine has been hugely unimpressive. There have been failures of intelligence and command, amplified by extraordinary tactical failings on the ground.

Western watchers of the modernisation of Russia’s military have been surprised. A force that was seen as making at least some progress to professionalise, to incorporate new technologies and new doctrines, is emerging from this conflict as a pale reflection of the Red Army of the past.

That at least had mass, but Russia’s armed forces today are much smaller than those of the Soviet Union. Unlike Ukraine which mobilised its society, Moscow went to war with the army that it had: many units were under-strength and ill-prepared for the combat to come.

In the first phases of this war there was no attempt to focus effort – to concentrate and mass firepower - and Russia has still not been able to secure full control of the air.

Even now, the offensive in the east is displaying many similar failings. Staples of modern war – communications and logistics – have been poorly handled. Above all, an army that went into this conflict on the wrong foot has learned only limited lessons from its mistakes.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

While the world's eyes will be on Moscow’s Red Square, Victory Day celebrations are taking place across Russia.

Things have already kicked off in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

The day marks victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, and many have been holding up photos of their relatives who fought in the war.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Frank Gardner
BBC News, Security Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Russia says it's nonsense that it will declare all-out war on Ukraine on Victory Day.

Up until now Moscow has denied it is at war, instead referring to its invasion of Ukraine as a"special military operation".

But Western officials have speculated that President Vladimir Putin could use the parade to announce an escalation of military action. He of course is keeping his cards close to his chest and until he’s spoken at the parade in Red Square we should take Moscow’s denials with a pinch of salt.

Don’t forget, in the days leading up to the invasion on 24 February, Russian officials queued up to ridicule suggestions of an imminent invasion as “Western hysteria and propaganda”. Yet invade they did, catching even many Ukrainians by surprise.

So the very least we can expect is some triumphant announcements of objectives achieved and enemies (real or imagined) vanquished.

Blame for the slow pace of the Russian advance in the Donbas will likely be placed on Nato and there will probably be further warnings to the West to stop helping Ukraine defend itself.

Whatever happens today, it is hard to see this war ending any time soon.

Image source, EPA

On the eve of Victory Day, as war raged in his country, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had “forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War Two”.

He said the whole free world could see that Ukraine was "the party of good in this war”, adding that Russia would "lose because evil always loses”.

Western leaders also used the occasion of Victory Day to denounce Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who visited Ukraine, told Reuters news agency Russian President Vladimir Putin was “going against the very values that so many people fought and died for”.

And leaders of the G7 group said Putin’s actions brought “shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people".

Image source, EPA

It is Russia’s biggest public holiday and recognises the defeat of Nazi Germany by the USSR.

Under Vladimir Putin, Victory Day has become a show of strength of troops and military hardware, as well as a chance to remember the sacrifices of World War Two.

Around 27 million Soviet citizens died, by far the greatest loss of any country, in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.

This year, the event has taken on a significance of its own. Far from liberating Europe, Russia has waged months of war against its neighbour Ukraine and is devoid of any real form of military victory that it can celebrate.

Today’s parade in Red Square is expected to feature thousands of troops and an aerial display. The Air Force has been rehearsing over Red Square in a Z formation - the controversial symbol adopted by the troops who have invaded Ukraine.

• In his nightly address, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had “forgotten everything that was important to the victors of World War Two”
• Zelensky denounced Russia’s heavy shelling in east Ukraine, saying a strike on a school in Luhansk region had killed 60 people. The building was being used as a shelter
• The US announced new sanctions, including visa restrictions for 2,600 Russian and Belarusian individuals
• After a video conference with Zelensky, G7 leaders said they would phase out their dependency on Russian energy
• G7 leaders said President Vladimir Putin had brought shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people

Image source, Reuters

If you’re joining us in the UK, good morning.

Russia is getting ready to hold its annual military parade in Moscow’s Red Square and in cities across Russia, marking victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

The event is a showpiece for Russia’s military - expect to see troops, tanks, rockets and ballistic missiles paraded through the capital in a display of the Kremlin’s strength.

But this year’s parade comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has faltered, with its military now focusing on battles in the east of the country after failing to take the capital Kyiv and other major cities.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is due to speak at the event in Red Square in a few hours - stay with us for full coverage.