Russia prepares spectacular Red Square parade

Russia is preparing for the biggest Red Square military parade in modern history in a Soviet-style celebration marking the 65th anniversary of the USSR defeating Nazi Germany.

 

By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 8:18PM BST 28 Apr 2010

Russian heavy weapons drive along Tverskaya street in Moscow Photo: EPA

The grandiose Moscow event on May 9 will be replicated on a smaller scale in 71 cities across Russia who will hold their own military parades making it a nationwide event involving around 100,000 troops.

In Moscow, foreign soldiers, including a detachment of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, will join their Russian counterparts on Moscow's most famous square for the first time.

Military commanders, who held a rehearsal on Tuesday, have said that the Moscow parade will involve 10,000 troops, 160 military vehicles and 127 aircraft making it the biggest such parade since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.Foreign dignitaries and heads of state will also be present.

Strategic nuclear bombers, MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets, and an array of military helicopters and gunships are expected to fly over Red Square on the day, while on the ground, T-90 battle tanks, intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, and numerous air defence and artillery pieces will trundle across the cobbles.