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Russia has test launched its new Soyuz-5 rocket for the first time, the country's space agency said late on Thursday, saying it had lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan without any issues.
The Soyuz-5, which Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, describes as a launch vehicle equipped with the world's most powerful liquid-fuelled engine, lifted off successfully at 2100 Moscow time (1800 GMT) on April 30, it said in a statement.
The new rocket is capable of carrying payloads of up to 17 metric tonnes, will significantly reduce launch costs, and is more effective than its predecessors at placing objects like satellites in near earth orbit, the agency said.
Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Roskosmos, said the rocket - which he hailed as a "new step in space exploration" - would create new jobs in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Bakanov has previously told President Vladimir Putin that the Soyuz-5 is the first new launch vehicle that Russia has developed since 2014.
open image in gallery In this photo taken from video released by Roscosmos space corporation, the Soyuz-2.1 rocket booster with Soyuz MS-28 space ship carrying NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev, a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off in Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (Roscosmos space corporation, via AP) ( Russian Space Agency Roscosmos )
On Thursday it was announced Russia's traditional parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II will take place next week without tanks, missiles and other military equipment.
It will be the first time in nearly two decades — and in Russia's 4-year-old war in Ukraine — that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow's Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important secular holiday.
The Kremlin has used it to showcase its military might and global clout, and it is a source of patriotic pride.Victory Day parades on Red Square have involved military equipment and various weaponry every year since 2008. Smaller parades are held elsewhere across the country, including in cities like St. Petersburg.
The ministry cited the "current operational situation" as a reason for excluding military equipment, as well as cadets, from this year's parade on the 81st anniversary of the victory. Ukraine has launched drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter Moscow's more than 4-year-old invasion.
While the ministry did not elaborate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday blamed Ukraine, accusing it of "terrorist activity," in an apparent reference to the drone strikes. In recent months, attacks have reached locations deep inside Russia, like the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to the north of Moscow, the Samara region near the border with Kazakhstan, and the Perm region in the Ural mountains."
All measures are being taken to minimize the danger," he told reporters.
The parade will feature "servicemen from higher military educational institutions of all kinds and certain service branches of the Russian Armed Forces" and a traditional military aircraft flyover, the ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call later Wednesday that he was ready to declare a ceasefire with Ukraine for the Victory Day holiday, according to presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Ushakov said the Trump had supported the idea as the holiday marked "our common victory over fascism" in World War II.