Some 10,000 troops, tanks and nuclear missile systems swept across Red Square’s cobblestones in front of President Vladimir Putin, senior officials, and a handful of war veterans.
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As tradition dictates, a Victory Day Parade was held, which was participated in by as much as 10,000 people. Several similar marches were held in cities across Russian Federation including Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok.
Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced hope that the standing mechanism between Russia and the United States will lead to constructive and radical changes to the situation in Syria.
Russian Federation has spent billions of dollars in recent years to update its military, particularly after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea in Ukraine that led to heightened tension with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
After shaking hands with troops and congratulating them on a national holiday which tends to unite Russians of all political persuasions, President Putin called for worldwide unity in the fight against terrorism.
In the run-up to the parade, national television aired a “social advertisement” that depicted the “ghost” of a World War II Soviet boy soldier who, when asked by a group of modern-day children if dying is “frightening”, the ghost replies: “That’s not important”.
Today’s military parade was the least expensive in four years, costing an estimated $3.23 million, according to Russian media reports. Military vehicles and hardware, including Russia’s advanced S-400 “Triumph” anti-aircraft missile system, were on display. Addressing the crowds, which included hundreds of Soviet war veterans, Putin launched a thinly veiled attack on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance, calling for a “non-bloc system of worldwide security”.
There was an aerobatic display by Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack planes, which have been used by Russian Federation to bomb rebels in Syria.
After the spectacular parade a vast crowd of people thronged the streets of Moscow on a march called “The Immortal Regiment”, commemorating their relatives killed in World War Two. “Our soldiers and commanders have proven that they are worthy successors of the Great Patriotic War heroes and that they honorably protect the interests of Russian Federation”.
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When asked why Putin made no mention of the Soviet Union’s allies in World War II during his speech at the parade, Peskov offered “not to draw any meaningful and conceptual conclusions from this fact”.
