TODAY: Temporary Surkov successor appointed; 8.5 million Russians celebrate Victory Day; Kerry urges Russia not to arm Syria; U.K. Prime Minister in Sochi to discuss Syria conflict; Russia to extend terms of Cyprus bailout; St. Petersburg media outlets hacked. 

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has appointed Sergei Prikhodo as a replacement First Deputy Chief of Staff for Vladislav Surkov, who was ousted from his post.  After Vladimir Putin praised Russia’s soldiers as ‘the liberators of Europe’ at the Victory Day parade in Red Square yesterday, over 8.5 million Russians attended Victory Day celebrations across the country.  (The Washington Post has some images.) The only reported detentions were of roughly 40 migrants, a result of document checks by police during festivities.  Putin also touted Russia as a guardian of global security, and vowed that Russia would ‘do everything in our power’ to prevent any future outbreak of war.