You're reading: ​Foreign troops to take part in Victory Day parade in Moscow

MOSCOW – The parade in Moscow's Red Square on May 9 will include military service members from ten foreign countries, the Russian Defense Ministry said.


“The V-Day parade will involve ten parade formations of the armed forces of CIS members: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, as well as India, Mongolia, Serbia and China,” the ministry said in a statement obtained by Interfax-AVN on April 22.

The parade will be four-part, it said.

Historical parade formations will open the parade wearing uniforms of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War (infantry, sailors, pilots, intelligence agents, bomb disposal experts, members of the resistance movement, cavalry and Cossacks).

The parade formations of the foot columns will consist of cadets from military academies, Suvorov and Nakhimov schools, as well as servicemen from the Western Military District, the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Internal Troops of the Interior Ministry and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

The mechanized-infantry column will be opened by historical parade formations consisting of the T-34 tank and the Su-100 self-propelled artillery system.

Also to pass through Red Square as part of the mechanized-infantry column will be: Msta-S and Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled howitzers, the Iskander missile system, Tiger and Typhoon armored vehicles, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers (APCs), T-90 tanks, Buk-M2 surface-to-air missile systems, Pantsir-S1 combined surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems, and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.

“The latest models of armament of the Airborne Troops, BMD-4M and the ‘Rakushka’ multirole APC, as well as the Yars mobile missile system of the Strategic Missile Troops will be showcased in the Red Square for the first time,” the spokesperson said.

Furthermore, the mechanized-infantry column will include prospective armored vehicles on the “Armat,” “Kurganets” and “Boomerang” platforms.

The parade will end with a flyover of the Russian Air Force aircraft that will include army, military transport, long-range planes and helicopters such as Mil Mi-35, Ansat-U, Mi-28N, Sukhoi Su-30 and Su-35 fighter aircraft, Yakovlev Yak-130 trainer aircraft, Su-34 bombers and Tupolev Tu-22MZ, Tu-160 and Tu-95 missile carriers.

To provide musical honors for the parade will be a 1,000-trumpet brass band of the Moscow garrison. During the parade the musicians will play over 50 marches and military tunes.

The military parade will be supervised, like last year, by the Ground Force Commander-in-chief Lt. Gen. Oleg Salyukov. To receive the parade will be the Russian defense minister, Army Gen. Sergei Shoigu, the spokesperson added.

“In all, the parade will involve over 16,500 troops, 201 pieces of military hardware, and 143 planes and helicopters,” the spokesperson said.

Participating troops are completing the parade rehearsals in Alabino, Moscow region, he said. “On April 24 the equipment participating in the parade will be redeployed to Khodynskoye Pole in Moscow. Night-time rehearsals will be held on Red Square on April 29 and May 4. The dress rehearsal will be held on May 7,” the Defense Ministry spokesperson said.