Russia holds Victory Day parade on Moscow's Red Square

A military parade to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War took place on Moscow’s Red Square, Report informs referring to TASS.

The parade began with the march of the banner group of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Honor Guard’s unit carrying the Russian national flag and the legendary Victory Banner across Red Square. The Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag by soldiers of the 150th Idritskaya Rifle Division in May 1945.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, war veterans and guests watched the parade from the central reviewing stand on Red Square. Defense Minister General of the Army Sergey Shoigu reviewed the parade, which was commanded by Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief General of the Army Oleg Salyukov.

The Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square was attended by leaders of foreign states, among them President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo.

The foot columns comprised regiments, battalions and companies of the armed services and military branches, parade units from Suvorov infantry and Nakhimov naval, cadet and military musical schools, members of the Young Army youth movement, female service members, Cossacks and a consolidated military band.

A legendary WWII T-34 tank, a major symbol of the Victory, traditionally led the mechanized column during the military parade. It was followed by a group of light-wheeled equipment that included Tigr-M and VPK-Ural multirole armored vehicles and the Linza medevac vehicle. They were followed by Iskander-M tactical missile systems, S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile launchers and Yars road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) systems. The final column of military hardware included Bumerang wheeled armored personnel carriers.

The military parade ended with a fly-past of combat aircraft over Moscow’s Red Square. The aerobatic groups Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) flying Su-30SM fighter jets and Strizhi (Swifts) on MiG-29 jets performed the Kubinka Diamond stunt over the center of Moscow. They were followed by six Su-25 attack aircraft that released fumes in the colors of the Russian national flag.

In all, 15 combat planes flew over Moscow’s Red Square at altitudes of up to 500 meters and at a speed of 550 km/h.

Overall, military parades will take place in 28 Russian cities on May 9 and involve more than 50,000 troops and about 1,000 items of armament and military hardware.