As Russian tanks, missiles and drones rumble through Red Square on Friday for the annual Victory Day parade celebrating the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany, President Vladimir Putin will be joined by at least two dozen world leaders, marking a victory of his own as a leader the West has sought to isolate.

Russia marks the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on Friday with a military parade attended by China's Xi Jinping that Moscow fears Ukraine will try to disrupt after three years of devastating war.

Events to mark the holiday in the occupied territories seem to be an effort to show Russian control of land it has captured.