Photo: https://pronedra.ru
On May 9, the main parade dedicated to the victory of the Soviet people in the Second World War of 1941 – 1945 was held traditionally on Red Square 1945 in Moscow.
Even during the special military operation, it was decided not to shorten the main Victory Parade in Moscow in any way, which was noticed by many military experts already at the stage of its preparation. As usual, the parade, dedicated to the 77th anniversary of the Great Victory, began at 10 a.m. on Red Square on the pavement of which 11,000 soldiers and 131 pieces of military equipment marched in parade formation. 77 airplanes and helicopters also took to the skies on the number of anniversaries since the Victory Day.
Traditionally, the festive parade was opened by the marching squads, representing all branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Cadets of military schools, musicians of the military orchestra, Cossacks and young soldiers also marched along the pavement of Red Square.
T-34 tank, the legend of Soviet military industry, was the first to march in columns of military vehicles. It was followed by modern vehicles, including the T-72BZM, the T-90M Proryv and the T-14 Armata tanks.
The pavement of the main square of the country was also covered by the Typhoon high-protection vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2, BMP-3 and Kurganets-25. In addition, vehicles of Airborne Forces, Strategic Missile Forces and unmanned combat robot-technical complexes Uran-9 also took part in the parade. The Iskander, Meta-S, Tornado-G rocket-artillery systems, Tor-M2, Buk-MZ and S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft defense systems were also shown in full force and glory.
In the final part of the parade and in case of flying weather in the Moscow sky it would be possible to see attack and transport helicopters, aircraft of operational-tactical, military-transport and long-range aviation. So, this part of the parade started with the flight of the world's largest commercially available transport helicopter Mi-26. It was followed by four helicopters Mi-8 and Mi-28-N (Night Hunter), Mi-24P (Crocodile) and Ka-52 (Alligator), four machines of each model.
In addition, the parade featured four MiG-29SMT fighters, four Su-24M tactical frontline bombers with variable sweep wings, as many MiG-31 long-range fighter-interceptors and Su-34 fighter-bombers each, as well as two long-awaited fifth generation Su-57 fighters.
The Tactical Wing Combat Order was demonstrated by aircraft, four Su-34s and Su-30SMs each, as well as two Su-35s. it should be noted that the minimum distance between combat vehicles in the air was 5 meters.
In addition, such aircraft as the supersonic missile-carrying bomber Tu-22M3, the bomber Tu-95MS (Bear), the beautiful missile-carrying Tu-160 (White Swan) and the tanker IL-78, which simulates air refueling of the Tu-160 also took part in the event.
Notably, eight MiG-29SMT fighters flew over Red Square in the shape of the letter Z in support of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine. The Strizhi and Russian Vityazi aerobatic teams will line up in the Cuban Diamond combination, and six Su-25 attack aircraft painted the sky with the colors of the Russian flag. In addition, it will be possible to see the so-called plane of doomsday, IL-80, in the sky of Moscow in fact, a unique flying headquarters in case of nuclear war.
It is worth noting that only veterans of the Second World War, their relatives, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, and home front workers were allowed to enter Red Square during the Victory Parade. Several Russian TV channels such as Channel 1, Russia 1, TVC, NTV, Zvezda, Channel 5, Ren-TV, Mir, Pobeda, TV Channel 360, and OTR broadcasted the parade.
In commemoration of the 77th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Second World War this year, parades was held in 28 Russian cities. It was attended by about 65,000 soldiers, and about 2,400 weapons and more than 460 aircraft were involved.
Recall that the decision to hold the “Victory Parade of the Second World War” was made by Stalin on May 15, 1945. Despite the fact that the General Staff believed that it took at least two months to prepare for this event, Stalin gave the order to hold the parade in a month. A corresponding directive was sent to the front commanders, upon receipt of which they promptly began to form combined regiments.
By the way, the size of the combined regiment was determined by the General Staff to be 1,059 men (with ten reserves), but it turned out to be 1,465 (with the same number of reserves). Not surprisingly, during the preparations for the first Victory Parade a lot of problems immediately arose, because its timing was extremely limited. For example, the parade uniform had to be sewn urgently, the banners were not ready, and many front-line soldiers had to be taught to march in parade formation during this time. According to the original scenario, the parade procession was to begin with the carrying of the Victory Banner, but due to the poor marching skills of Kantaria, Yegorov, and Neustroev, who had hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag in Berlin, Marshal Zhukov reversed that decision.
It is noteworthy that about 900 units of trophy war banners and standards had already been delivered from Germany that were guarded round the clock in a special room.
So on a rainy morning of June 24, 1945, on the orders of Joseph Stalin, Supreme Commander in Chief, to celebrate the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, a parade of troops of the army, navy and Moscow garrison began on Red Square. A gigantic orchestra of 1,400 musicians accompanied the march of the troops, which were ridden by Marshals of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (on a white horse) and Konstantin Rokossovsky (on a raven horse).
To the beat of drums a company came out with enemy flags, dragging them along the wet pavement (in this sense the rain in Moscow came in handy), and with force started throwing all this “pride of the Third Reich” to the foot of the Mausoleum. The Great Victory Parade lasted two hours, but because of the pouring rain the flight of planes over Red Square, unfortunately, had to be canceled. In the evening, a festive salute lit up the sky over Moscow.
The 1945 military parade was a true triumph of the victorious people and the Soviet Armed Forces. Twelve marshals, 249 generals, 2,536 officers, 3,116 soldiers and sergeants took part in it.