The Kremlin & Red Square, Moscow, Russia holds Victory Day Parade on May 9,2013 to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945.
The
Moscow Victory Day Parade in Moscow's Red Square
will be held on 9 May 2013 to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the
capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. The parade will mark the Soviet
Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War on the very day on the
signing of the German act of capitulation to the Allies in Berlin, on
the very midnight of May 9, 1945 (Russian time). The
President of Russia,
Vladimir Putin, will deliver his second holiday address, and it will be the first parade for both the Minister of Defense
General of the Army Sergey Shoigu (parade inspector) and Russian Ground Forces commander Col. Gen.
Vladimir Chirkin (parade commander) as well as the first in four years for the
Suvorov Military School and the
Nakhimov Naval School
and the first appearance from a Cossack cadet corps unit, joining the
more than 11,000 service personnel that will be marching on Red Square
this year, and the return of the full air fly over after two years. The
BTR82A IFV will make its parade debut this year as part of the mobile
column.
Sevastopol in the
Ukraine, where the Black Sea Fleet is based, and 22 other Russian cities will also hold parades on this day. As per tradition
Kharkiv in Ukraine also holds a full parade on this day as well.
Preparation
Since November 2012, preparations for the parade have been well
attended at the unit level. Individual and unit practices were held in
the various military installations for all the participant units.
In March of 2013, the full rehearsal started at the training center
at Alabino, Moscow Oblast. The parade preparations started on April
11-12 for all the units as the mobile column of more than a hundred
military vehicles finished up their practice runs on the field. Also
undertaking practice runs are the massed
military bands
that will take part in the parade led by no less than Lieutenant
General Valery Khalilov in his 11th Victory Day Parade appearance and
the squadron of
Mil Mi-8
helicopters from the Army Aviation Training Center for the fly past
segment later on, which will feature various other military aircraft. In
all 68 aircraft are taking part after a 2 year absence.
Moscow practice runs for the parade proper commenced on April 24-26,
2013 on Red Square itself, and the practice runs ended on May 3 and 4
with two general practice runs. One final practice was scheduled for May
7, two days before the parade itself with Defense Minister Shoigu
inspecting as a full final rehearsal run, starting at 10 AM Moscow Time,
the time in which the parade two days later will commence. Col. Gen.
Chirkin led the marchers on that day's practice run on the Red Square
grounds.
15th Independent Commandant's Regiment's change of title
As the parade practices commenced on April 11, the
154th Independent Commandant's Regiment, the official honor guard regiment of the
Russian Armed Forces, joined the rehearsals as always as permanent participants, this time as the
154th Independent Commandant's Preobrazhensky Regiment,
the new title bestowed on it several days ago via a Presidential
executive order by no less than Vladimir Putin himself in his
constitutional duty as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. That very
act was done on April 9 the same year. This entrustment of the honorary
title is a continuation of the great military traditions of the Russian
armed services ever since the raising of the first two regiments of the
Imperial Russian Army by no less than
Peter the Great
himself. As always the First Honor Guard Company of the regiment's
Honor Guard Battalion did well in the first rehearsal and is expected to
perform better in this year's parade.
Parade Participants (full list)
Bold indicates first appearance,
italic indicates multiple appearances,
Bold and italic indicate returning appearance.
Military Bands
- Massed Military Bands of the Armed Forces under the direction of the
Senior Director of Music of the Military Bands Service of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov
- Corps of Drums of the Moscow Military Music School
Ground Column
Mobile Column
Air Column
