List of Victory Day Parades in Minsk

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belarus, there were questions over the wisdom of holding a military parade. By the time the virus arrived in Belarus in later February, the Ministry of Defense had reportedly already had more than 2,000 servicemen arriving in Minsk to begin training.[31] As per usual, the rehearsals with the mechanized columns took place at Lipki Aerodrome.[32] A petition was created and submitted for consideration to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defense calling for the cancellation of rehearsals as well as the parade. It also called for the banning of foreign military representatives in order to avoid the transmission of the virus.[33] On 27 March, President Lukashenko reaffirmed his commitment to holding the parade, even saying that his government was "mulling over the possibilities for me to attend the parade there [in Moscow] as well".[34][35][36]

Because of Lukashenko's plans, it was settled that the parade would be held in the early evening, following the format of jubilee Independence Day parades, in order to allow Lukashenko to attend the morning parade in Moscow first.[37] This was later changed as soon as it was announced the Moscow parade was cancelled. On 11 April, Deputy Minister of Defense of Belarus, Sergei Potapenko, confirmed that preparations for the parade will continue and that no cancellation will be considered, saying that "a complex of antiepidemiologic and therapeutic measures is taking place" and that there are "no problems with preparing to the parade".[38] Members of the Honor Guard of the Armed Forces of Belarus were infected with the virus by late April.[39]

When speaking on the decision to hold the parade to cabinet members, Lukashenko described it as "an emotional, deeply ideological thing".[40] At that same meeting, he gave instructions that no one "should be dragged to this mass event".[41][42][43] There were reports that suggested university students were offered incentives to attend the parade.[44] These incentives, which manifested in a recruiting campaign among university students, included academic and dormitory bonuse for members of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences and recovered COVID-19 patients.[45]

Parade formations from Russia and China were planned to be participants, until the spokespersons of both military departments cancelled their participation.[46][47] On 5 May, Lukashenko has invited international leaders to attend the parade. He said: "I invite all heads of state, at least those from the former Soviet Union, to come to Minsk and attend this parade."[48][49] The day after this statement was made, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would not travel to Minsk for the parade.[50] In a video conference with Prescient Lukashenko, Moldovan President Igor Dodon expressed how "impressed" he was by the fact that the parade was still able to go on.[51] Lukashenko also was open to the presence of Russian deputies and senators who expressed a desire to attend the parade in Minsk, saying that "We welcome this" and that "We don’t close the doors from our friends and brothers".[52][53] The ambassadors of the following 18 countries attended: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, Venezuela, Vietnam, Iran, North Korea, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Palestine, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Tajikistan, the UAE and Serbia. In addition, the chargés d'affaires of Sudan, Libya and Pakistan, and the Permanent Representative of Russia to the CIS, Andrei Grozov were in attendance. One of the attendees was Slovak Ambassador and former Speaker of National Council of the Slovak Republic Jozef Migaš, who resigned later on as a result of his attendance.[54] He would later be awarded the Order of Francysk Skaryna by Lukashenko.[55]

Disagreements with the government's stance came in the form of public criticisms and expressions of concern. Belarusian opposition leader Gennady Fedynich compared the parade to holding "a feast during the plague".[56] Other criticisms came from prominent opposition leaders such as Stanislav Shushkevich, Mikhail Chigir. On May 9, 2020, dozens of supporters of Belarusian blogger and activist Syarhei Tsikhanouski held an "Anti-parade" in Babruisk to express their disagreement with the Victory Day Parade in Minsk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The protest parade took the form of a protest motor rally. Police detained about 15 people after the motor rally.[57][58] Syarhei Tsikhanouski was in detention in that moment.

The World Health Organization attributed the rising rate of infections in the country to the "lack of adequate social distancing measures" and urged the government cancel the parade.[59] The day of the parade saw and increase of case by 1271 people, with the trend staying the same over the next couple of days. On 13 May, NEXTA reported a total of 27,717 cases with a daily gain of 1,369.[60][61]

In the Western media, the parade gave the appearance of an attempt to upstage the Moscow celebrations. The contrasting messages from both countries clashed when the Belarusian government accused Channel One Russia correspondent Alexei Kruchinin and his cameraman of spreading fake news about the virus in Belarus.[62] On 6 May, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov refuted allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Lukashenko for holding the parade, calling them "unreliable wild speculations".[63] Investigative journalist Ihar Tyshkevich suggested that one of the motives for holding the parade was to fight Russian propaganda about the country that had increased in the previous year.[64]