MOSCOW, 9 May. A military parade was held on Red Square in Moscow to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The parade began with the march of the flag-bearer group of the Preobrazhensky Regiment's honor guard unit carrying the Russian national flag and the legendary Victory Banner across Red Square. The Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag by the soldiers of the 150. Idris Rifle Division on the night of May 1, 1945.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, war veterans, guests and foreign officials watched the parade from the central grandstand on Red Square. The parade, commanded by the Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces, Hero of Russia, Colonel-General Andrei Mordvichev, was opened by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov. The Victory Day celebrations in Moscow were attended by foreign leaders, including Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Supreme Leader of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim, President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zomart Tokayev and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

For the first time, a military contingent from North Korea took part in a military parade on Red Square in Moscow. The walking column consisted of members of military universities of all branches of the army and the various branches of the Russian Armed Forces. During the Victory Day parade, about 1,000 Russian special operations military fighters, including 17 Heroes of Russia, also marched solemnly along the cobblestones of Red Square. Unmanned systems units also took part in the military parade.

During a live broadcast of the military parade in Moscow's Red Square, Russia's Channel One television station aired videos of Russian soldiers performing special military operations tasks, as well as personnel on duty at command posts of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces. Last year, more than 11,000 soldiers, including 1,500 special military operation participants and 183 World War II soldiers and modern weapons systems, took part in the Russian Victory Day parade on Red Square in Moscow, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

During the jubilee year, military contingents from 13 countries also marched through Red Square in Moscow. The military parade ended with a flyover of Red Square in Moscow by combat aircraft. Acrobatic groups Russkiye vityazi (Russian Knights) on Su-30SM fighters and Strizhi (Strizhi) on MiG-29 aircraft performed the „Kubinka Diamond“ aerobatic manoeuvre over the centre of Moscow. They were followed by six Su-25 attack aircraft, which released smoke trails in the colours of the Russian national flag.

TASS/gnews.cz