It was the largest parade held in Moscow, Russia since the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and saw 11,135 troops, 127 aircraft and helicopters, and the new Topol-M mobile intercontinental ballistic missile taking part. For the first time, the 2010 parade also included military units from foreign countries who were allied with the Soviet Union during World War II, with representation from France, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Moscow Victory Day Parade of 2010 was held on 9 May 2010 to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. The parade marks the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Military components
The 9 May Victory Day Parade in Moscow involved more than 10,000 troops marching, 160 military vehicles and 127 military aircraft, making it the largest parade to be held since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Twenty aviation groups of the Russian Air Force took part in the parade, which saw the Ilyushin Il-76, Ilyushin Il-78, Antonov An-124, Sukhoi Su-27, Ilyushin Il-80, Beriev A-50, Tupolev Tu-22M, Sukhoi Su-25, Mikoyan MiG-29, Mikoyan MiG-31, Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-160 performing flypasts. Also taking part for the first time were the Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainer aircraft and the Mil Mi-26 heavy helicopter. The mobile ICBM Topol-M missile, that first appeared at the 2009 parade, was shown here again for the second consecutive year .
Foreign military
Foreign troops march on Red Square as part of Victory Day celebrations for the first time.
The 2010 Parade marked the first time that foreign and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) soldiers joined Russian forces on Red Square for the parade. Battalions from the CIS included Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine among them. Upon request from the government of Turkmenistan, the contingent from Turkmenistan was led by an officer riding on horseback, with the horse being flown into Moscow from Ashgabat. Poland was represented by the Representative Battalion of the Polish Armed Forces. The United Kingdom was represented by a detachment of 76 soldiers from the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards, the Central Band of the Royal Air Force and the Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The United States was represented by the 2nd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment and the Naval Forces Europe Band. France was represented by pilots and aircraft from the Normandie-Niemen Air Regiment. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the inclusion of foreign troops in the parade recognition of their "common victory" in World War II.
The inclusion of foreign troops in the parade was not without controversy. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation held a May Day rally in Moscow, at which several thousand protesters used the rally to decry the inclusion of troops from NATO countries in the parade. A poll run by the Levada Center saw 20 percent of respondents disapproving of the presence of foreign troops, with 8 percent being strongly opposed.
International dignitaries
World leaders present at the 2010 Victory Day Parade
Mihai Ghimpu, the Acting President of Moldova, stated in late April 2010, after previously accepting an invitation from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to attend the celebrations, that he would not be attending, claiming "I have no ties with Moscow. Only the victorious are going, what will the defeated do there?" Concerns also arose that a Moldovan contingent would not be able to attend the parade because of financial difficulties in the country, but a Moldovan government source told Kommersant that this was only an excuse, and Ghimpu was choosing to improve Moldova's relations with Romania, which was not invited to attend the celebrations as it was an ally of Germany during World War II. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded to remarks by Ghimpu, which also included the opinion that Russia should pay Moldova compensation for what he claimed was a "Soviet occupation", by urging Moldovan authorities not to use the occasion for political speculation. King Michael of Romania, one of the last heads of state alive from WWII, was invited by Russian president Medvedev to attend the ceremony.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed her attendance on 30 April, as did Acting President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski. Komorowski's attendance is said to be part of an effort to bolster Poland–Russia relations, which improved after the death of Polish President Lech Kaczyński in a plane crash near Smolensk in early April 2010.Kaczyński is said to have confirmed his attendance at the parade shortly prior to the crash in which he was killed, with reports in the week prior to his death showing that he was questioning his attendance.
Chinese President Hu Jintao confirmed his attendance at the parade on 3 May. The following day Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič's attendance was confirmed. Other world leaders who confirmed their attendance included Czech President Václav Klaus, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Serbian President Boris Tadić, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, and Vietnamese President Nguyễn Minh Triết, Leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mongolia and Slovenia also confirmed their attendance. On 8 May Sarkozy and Berlusconi announced that they wouldn't be attending the parade in Moscow, so that they could tackle the European sovereign debt crisis.
Both the United Kingdom and the United States had planned to send high-profile representatives. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was invited to Russia, but because of the UK general election he was unable to attend; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office suggested Charles, Prince of Wales, instead. Barack Obama, the President of the United States, was also unable to attend, but offered Vice President Joe Biden as the US representative; Biden was in Brussels as part of US efforts to improve relations with the European Union. According to The Guardian, both figures were rejected by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, however, in what both countries perceived as a diplomatic snub. This was put down to poor British relations with Russia over the UK's continuing refusal to extradite Boris Berezovsky over Russian charges of embezzlement, and because of Biden's close relations with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is widely unpopular in Russia because of the 2008 Russia–Georgia War. The UK and US were instead represented by their ambassadors to Russia, Dame Anne Pringle and John Beyrle respectively.
The list of heads of foreign states, governments and international organisations that attended the parade were
Country Dignitary Position Photo Country Dignitary Position Photo
Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh President - Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov President
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan President - Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj President
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev President Montenegro Filip Vujanović President
Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov President Poland Bronisław Komorowski Acting President
China Hu Jintao President Serbia Boris Tadić President
Croatia Ivo Josipović President Slovakia Ivan Gašparovič President
Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus President Slovenia Danilo Türk President
Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves President South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity President -
Germany Angela Merkel Chancellor Tajikistan Emomalii Rahmon President
Israel Shimon Peres President Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow President
Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev President Vietnam Nguyễn Minh Triết President
Latvia Valdis Zatlers President - - - -
The parade
Speech of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Victory Day Parade on 9 May 2010 (transcript in English)
At 10:00am (MSK), the clock of Spasskaya Tower in the Moscow Kremlin rang and signalled the beginning of the parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the Great Patriotic War. The event then began with the display of the flag of Russia and the Victory Banner. After this, commander of the Moscow Military District Colonel General Valery Gerasimov, who commanded the parade, and Anatoly Serdyukov, the Russian Minister of Defence, who inspected the parade, joined and inspected the troops. At 10:14am, Serdyukov reported to Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev on the readiness of the troops.
After this President Medvedev made a speech in which he stated, "Sixty-five years ago Nazism was vanquished. The machine that was wiping out whole nations was stopped. Peace returned to our country and to Europe as a whole. An end was put to the ideology that was destroying the fundamentals of civilization." Medvedev also emphasised the role the Soviet Union played in the war, bearing the brunt of Nazi attacks, in which some three-quarters of their military forces participated.
After his speech and the playing of the National Anthem of the Russian Federation, a parade of troops took place on Red Square, led by the Drummers' Company of the Moscow Military Conservatoire, Military University of the MDRF. Some 10,500 thousand troops marched, and approximately 1,000 troops from the Commonwealth of Independent States, Poland, the United Kingdom, France and the United States also marched. This was followed by a procession of 161 pieces of military hardware through Red Square, and 127 aircraft and helicopters making a flypast over the Kremlin to form the number "65".
The historical part of the parade began with the entry onto Red Square of infantry, air force and navy representatives in uniforms resplendent of the Great Patriotic War. Behind them troops from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine marched. Each of these nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States were represented by some 70 troops. Following the participants from the CIS, was a guard of honour from the Polish Army, and they were followed by 71 members of the British Army, 76 members of the United States military, and 68 members of the French military. At the rear of the foreign segment of the parade were 68 troops from Turkmenistan, led by a commander riding on horseback, of which the horse has blood-lines to the horse lent to Marshal Georgy Zhukov by Stalin for the original parade. It was followed by the Presidential Regiment Cavalry Escort Squadron, wearing GPW uniforms of the Soviet Cavalry forces.
Parade Participants
Note: Those indicated in bold indicate first parade appearance, those indicated with italic indicate double or multiple parade appearances.
Colonel General Valery Gerasimov (parade commander)
Defense Minister of the Russian Federation Anatoliy Serdyukov (parade inspector)
Military Bands in Attendance
Massed Military Bands led and conducted by Major General Valery Khalilov and composed of:
HQ Band, Moscow Military District under Lt. Col. V Shevernev
Central Military Band of the MDRF under Col. Andrei Kolotushkin and Drum Major of the Central Band Lt. Col. Sergey Durygin
Headquarters Band, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
Central Band of the Russian Navy
Band of the Moscow Military Conservatoire, Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
HQ Band, Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation
Band of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Band of the Military Technological University
Band of the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Rocket Forces of Strategic Importance
Central Band of the Royal Air Force
The Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment
United States Navy Naval Forces Europe Band
Wind and Fanfare Band of the French Army Ile-de-France Military Region
Band of the 5th Tamanskaya Guards Ind. Motor Rifle Brigade "Mikhail Kalinin"
Band of the Kantemir Guards Armored Brigade "Yuri Androvov"
Band of the 25th Sevastopol Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
Central Band of the Russian Air Force
Band of the Gagarin-Zhukovsky Combined Air Force Academy
Band of the Moscow Military Conservatoire, Military University of the MDRF
Band of the Ryazan Airborne Command Academy
Headquarters Band of the Federal Security Service
Drummers Company, Moscow Military Conservatoire, Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Ground Column
154th Moscow Garrison Commandant's Honor Guard Regiment and Colors Party
Colors Party composed of:
Flag of Russia
Victory Banner
Banner of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Honor Guards of the Armed Forces
Historical troops and colors
Front Standard bearers
Historical Colors Party
Historical troops of the Soviet Armed Forces
Red Army
Soviet Air Forces
Soviet Navy
WPRA Army Cavalry Corps (represented by the Cavalry Escort Squadron of the Presidential Regiment)
Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Allied nations
Armed Forces of Azerbaijan
Armed Forces of Armenia
Special Forces Regiment of the Belarusian Army
Honor Guard of the Republic of Kazakhstan Army
8th Guards Rezhivsky Rifle Division "Ivan V Panfilov" of the Army of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Honor Guard Company of the Moldovan Army
Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan
Ukrainian Ground Forces Military Academy
Composite Honor Guards Battalion of the Polish Armed Forces
2nd Coy. 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, British Army
18th Infantry Regiment, United States Army
Normandie-Niemen Air Regiment, French Air Force
Honor Guard of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense of the Russian Federation, Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Gagarin-Zhukovsky Combined Air Force Academy
Air Force Gen. Staff School of Rocket Forces and Anti-Air Defense Training
Baltic Naval Military Institute "Admiral Fyodor Ushakov"
336th Separate Bialystok Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Baltic Fleet
Peter the Great Military Academy of the Rocket Forces of Strategic Importance
Moscow Military Rocket Forces Institute, SRFI RF
Military Space Academy
Moscow Military Space Institute of Radio Electronics
Ryazan Airborne Command Academy "Gen. of the Army Vasily Margelov"
331th Guards Airborne Regiment
Moscow Border Service Institute of the Federal Security Service
OMSDON 1st Internal Troops Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation "Felix Dzenzhinsky"
Civil Defense Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation
Military Technological University
5th Tamanskaya Guards Ind. Motor Rifle Brigade "Mikhail Kalinin"
25th Sevastopol Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
Moscow Military Commanders Training School "Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR/Russian Federation"
Mobile Column
T-34
GAZ-67B
SU-100
GAZ-2975
BPM-97
BTR-80
BMP-3
T-90
2S19 Msta
Buk missile system
TOS-1
BM-30 Smerch
S-400 Triumf
Pantsir-S1
Iskander-M
Topol-M
Air Column Flypast
Mi-8 Colors Party
Mi-24
Mi-28
Yak-130
MiG-29
Sukhoi Su-24
Sukhoi Su-34
Sukhoi Su-27
Tu-22M3
Tu-95
Tu-160
Joint formation squadron of Russian Knights and Strizhi (Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29)
Il-78
An-124
Beriev A-50
Sukhoi Su-25
(source:wikipedia)
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