The May 9 Parade: Everything You Need To Know

THE BRIEFING 

Here’s what’s happening in geopolitics today.

From Latin America to Eastern Europe, today’s headlines reflect a world in political transition; with Costa Rica swearing in a new president, Hungary ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power, and Moscow marking Victory Day under the shadow of war and drone threats.

Meanwhile, Washington’s expanding counter-narcotics campaign in the Pacific is drawing increasing scrutiny after another deadly strike at sea, while the Pentagon’s release of long-classified UFO files has reignited global fascination with unexplained aerial encounters dating back decades.

In today’s deep dive, we analyse…

THE LAST 24 HOURS IN GEOPOLITICS 

1. Laura Fernandez sworn in as Costa Rica’s new President
Laura Fernández was sworn in as Costa Rica’s new president after winning April’s runoff election, becoming the country’s first female leader in more than a decade. Fernández campaigned on promises to tackle rising organised crime, strengthen economic growth, and address public frustration over corruption and inequality. Her inauguration is being closely watched across Central America as governments in the region face mounting pressure from migration flows, cartel violence, and slowing economic conditions.
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2. US strike on vessel in Eastern Pacific kills two people, leaving one survivor
The U.S. military said it carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, killing two people and leaving one survivor. U.S. Southern Command said the boat was operating along known smuggling routes, with the Coast Guard later launching a search-and-rescue mission for the surviving individual. The strike is the latest in Washington’s expanding counter-narcotics campaign across Latin American waters, a strategy that has drawn growing scrutiny from legal experts and human rights groups over the use of lethal force.
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3. Moscow to hold scaled-back Victory Day Parade as Ukraine truce kicks in
Russia held a scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow as a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine came into effect, with the annual event notably lacking tanks and other heavy military hardware for the first time in nearly two decades. President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony on Red Square alongside senior officials and foreign guests, while heightened security measures remained in place amid fears of Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital. The three-day truce, tied to Victory Day commemorations, comes despite both Moscow and Kyiv continuing to accuse each other of violating previous ceasefire agreements during the war.
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4. Pentagon releases first batch of reports documenting UFOs  
The Pentagon has released the first batch of previously classified files documenting reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), commonly known as UFOs, as part of a broader transparency initiative ordered by President Donald Trump. The release includes more than 160 documents, videos, photographs, military reports and astronaut transcripts dating back to the 1940s, including accounts from Apollo missions and sightings reported by U.S. military personnel in recent years. Officials stressed that the material does not confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life, with many incidents remaining unexplained due to limited data or inconclusive evidence.
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5. Peter Magyar sworn in as Hungary’s PM, ending Orban’s 16 years in power
Peter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s new prime minister, formally ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year hold on power after the opposition Tisza Party secured a landslide election victory last month. Magyar, a former Orbán ally turned opposition figure, pledged to restore democratic institutions, strengthen ties with the European Union, and launch anti-corruption reforms after years of tensions between Budapest and Brussels. The leadership transition marks one of the most significant political shifts in Central Europe in recent years.
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CONFLICT TRACKER

Russia-Ukraine 
Russia held its annual Victory Day parade on Red Square yesterday, marking 81 years since the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany. If you were expecting the usual spectacle of intercontinental ballistic missiles rolling past Lenin's Mausoleum and rows of armoured vehicles rattling the cobblestones, you were out of luck. For the first time since 2008, none of it showed up. No tanks, no hardware, no rolling arsenal. In its place, Russian state media broadcast pre-recorded video footage from what it described as frontline operations in Ukraine, featuring drone units, air defence systems, and strategic nuclear assets. The message was clearly still meant to project strength. Whether it landed that way is a different conversation.

Putin arrived at the Red Square tribunal alongside Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, one of only a small handful of foreign leaders who made the trip to Moscow this year. That alone tells you something. Last year the guest list was considerably longer, a deliberate show of non-Western solidarity. This time around, the turnout was thin, and the leaders present were largely those who had nowhere else to be politically. Lukashenko, for his part, remains one of Putin's most reliable fixtures at these events, which is as much a reflection of his own isolation as it is of their alliance.

On the reviewing stand, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov was notably present in civilian clothes, a quiet but readable contrast to his predecessor Sergei Shoigu, who never missed an opportunity to turn up in full military uniform despite never actually holding a formal military rank. The optics of that always raised eyebrows. Belousov showing up in a suit is either a straightforward acknowledgment of his civilian role, or it signals something about how the Kremlin is currently thinking about Shoigu, who has not exactly been having a smooth stretch lately politically.

North Korean troops marched in the parade yesterday, a first in the event's modern history and not a subtle one. These are soldiers who were deployed to Russia's Kursk region to fight alongside Russian forces during Ukraine's cross-border incursion, and their presence on Red Square was Moscow's way of putting that alliance on formal display rather than continuing to dance around it. It is a notable moment, because whatever language the Kremlin has used to describe the relationship with Pyongyang, having North Korean servicemen march in lockstep through the heart of Moscow on Russia's most sacred national holiday is about as explicit an endorsement of that partnership as you can make without signing a mutual defence treaty.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued an official decree doing something almost theatrical in its irony: formally permitting Russia to hold its Victory Day celebrations, with the decree establishing a temporary ceasefire zone covering Red Square itself. It was a pointed move, framing Russia's own national holiday as something requiring Ukrainian authorisation. Whether that reads as sharp diplomacy or political theatre depends on your vantage point, but it dominated the day's narrative almost as much as the parade itself. In return, Russia promised to not strike the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Sources
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TWEET OF THE DAY

lol, any PotatoBro’s in chat?

TODAY IN HISTORY

(May 9, 1936): Seven months after invading Ethiopia and driving Emperor Haile Selassie I into exile, Italy's fascist government annexed the country as part of Italian East Africa.