You're reading: About 10,000 troops to participate in military parades on August 24

About 10,000 servicemen will participate in military parades on Independence Day throughout Ukraine on August 24, First Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Mozharovsky has said.

"About 10,000 servicemen will participate in the parades," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

Mozharovsky said that military parades would be held in six cities in Ukraine and that 500 units of military equipment, 36 aircraft and 12 helicopters would be presented at them.

He said that the Defense Ministry was seeking an opportunity to reduce spending on the parades and would try to ensure that Hr 56 million envisaged in the state budget for this purpose was enough.

Earlier, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that over Hr 177 million would be allocated for events to mark the 20th Independence Day of Ukraine.

President Viktor Yanukovych, in turn, ordered the government to reduce these expenditures.