Victory Day, the battle for Bakhmut, and NATO: What to watch for this week.

Russia will celebrate its most important annual military holiday this week, amid growing anxiety after a series of Ukrainian attacks and counterattacks.

The May 9 holiday, Victory Day, marks the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. It fell this year just one week after two explosions in the Kremlin, which Russia said were attempts by Ukrainians to use drones to assassinate President Vladimir V. Putin.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vehemently denied any involvement in what would have been a reckless attack and warned that Moscow would use it as a pretext to gain public support and potentially escalate the war.

This year, Mr. Putin’s annual Victory Day speech could signal how the Kremlin plans to respond, at least rhetorically, to the drone incident and Ukraine’s anticipated counterattack. He has traditionally observed the holiday with an extravagant display of military strength in Moscow’s Red Square.

But the incident in the Kremlin is one of the attacks seen in Russia that have fueled unrest in the country. Over the weekend, a car bomb seriously injured a Russian nationalist and novelist and killed the driver. Other recent attacks include an explosion that damaged an oil storage facility and damaged at least two trains in Russia.

Several Russian cities have canceled this year’s Victory Day celebrations due to security concerns, but the main celebration in Moscow’s Red Square on Tuesday is expected to go ahead.

Here’s what we’re watching this week:

• Discussion about wheat: Representatives of the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are expected this week to discuss extending the Black Sea grain deal beyond May 18. but Russia has threatened to withdraw through barriers to its own exports.

• Military support: NATO’s top military officials are expected to meet in Brussels on Wednesday for discussions on the alliance’s military priorities and the war in Ukraine.

• Battle for Bakhmut: The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appeared to back down on threats to pull fighters out of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, saying on Sunday he had been promised more ammunition and weapons. Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, Wagner’s chief, said last week that his fighters would withdraw from the long battle for the city on May 10 because of insufficient ammunition.