On 8 May 2026, Der Spiegel that Russian authorities had revoked accreditation for several foreign journalists who had previously received permission to cover the 9 May Victory Day parade in Moscow, according to Mediazona.
According to Der Spiegel, journalists were informed about the cancellation by phone. The decision reportedly affected correspondents from Germany鈥檚 ARD and ZDF, the UK鈥檚 Sky, the French news agency AFP, Italy鈥檚 Rai and Japan鈥檚 NHK.
Der Spiegel quoted Kremlin representatives as saying that, due to the current situation, the format for covering the parade had been changed and that foreign media that had already been accredited would no longer be allowed to attend. Some journalists were reportedly told that only Russian media employees would be admitted to the parade.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied that accreditation had been withdrawn from foreign journalists. However, he said that due to the 鈥渞educed format鈥� of the parade, the number of journalists allowed to cover it would be limited. According to media reports, the parade was reduced due to the danger of Ukrainian drone strikes on or near the parade.
According to Russian independent outlet Mediazona, this was the first known case in which journalists had already been granted permission to work at the 9 May parade and then had that permission revoked.