A parade marking the 77th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War has begun on Red Square in Moscow, a TASS correspondent reports.
The words "Attention, Moscow is speaking and showing, listen and watch Red Square. To mark the 77th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 - the Victory Parade!", traditionally sounded over Red Square.
To the tune of "Holy War," a group of the Preobrazhensky Regiment's guard of honor battalion carried the Russian flag and the Victory Banner - the red banner hoisted over the Reichstag by soldiers of the 150th Idritsky Division in 1945 - into the square. The symbols of Russia and Victory are carried in front of the stands and parade corps.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, veterans and guests of the event are on the central stand. Army General Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, commands the parade, while Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hosts it. After the minister's report on readiness for the parade, the head of state will address the Russians from the platform of the main square of the country.
The Victory Parade will be opened by military staff on foot. This year, parade "boxes" consisting of officers, sergeants and soldiers from compounds and military units, students and cadets from military educational institutions, students of Suvorov and Nakhimov colleges and cadet schools, members of the Yunarmiya All-Russian movement and units of the Emergency Ministry, Federal Guard Service and Border Troops of the Federal Security Service and the All-Russian Cossack Society will march along the pavement of Red Square. About 11 thousand people will march in unarmed formation.
Gifts for guests
Traditionally the guests of the Victory Parade on the Red Square in Moscow received symbolic gifts for May 9th. This time all the guests invited to the stands were given small scarlet rucksacks with symbols of Victory Day - the Order of the Great Patriotic War and the dates (1945-2022).
Inside the gift backpacks were protective plaids, the same color as the Red Army soldiers' uniforms, scarlet caps and water. The highlight of each gift was a 1:35 scale model of the Russian T-90MS tank from Zvezda, a leading manufacturer of military equipment assembly kits.
According to the volunteers, about 7 thousand gift backpacks were brought for the holiday.
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Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS