Victory Parade Ends On Moscow's Red Square

A military parade devoted to the 56-th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War ended on Moscow's Red Square today. President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, who also serves as Commander-In-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, addressed parade details, war veterans and all Russian citizens. After that, the troops shouted a triple "Hurrah!", with the band playing the Russian Federation's state anthem. (The melody of the Soviet state anthem was first played during the Great Patriotic War, that is, on the night of January 1, 1944). Artillery guns also fired to the sound of music. The parade commander's car, which opened the parade, was followed by a company of drummers from the Moscow military music school. Banner groups carrying the Victory banner, the Russian Federation's State Flag, the new Banner of the Russian Armed Forces (that was presented by the Commander-In-Chief to the Russian Defense Minister the other day), a banner company and a guard-of-honor company comprising the three armed services also marched through the square. The details of the Army Academy, the Strategic Missile Force's Peter the Great Military Academy, the Defense Ministry's Military University, the Combat Engineers University, the Military University of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection, the Gagarin Air Force Academy, the Zhukovsky Air Force Military Technical University, as well as one of the Airborne Force's parachute-assault regiments, the Moscow-based Military Institute of the Federal Frontier Service, a marine regiment of the Baltic Fleet, a regiment from the Interior Ministry's security forces, the Moscow-based Suvorov military school, the Moscow Military Institute and a combined military band of the Moscow garrison marched past the grand-stands. The parade involved servicemen, who fought in Afghanistan, Chechnya and in other hot spots. Many of them were decorated for bravery; for example, the Army Academy's detail comprised 7 Heroes of the Russian Federation and 183 officers, who have orders and medals. A guard-of-honor company of the Moscow military district's detached HQ regiment approached the grand-stands for distinguished guests, after the troops passed by. The combined band then began to play, with the company's soldiers subsequently performing their arms drill. Talking to RIA-NOVOSTI the other day, Col. Vitaly Gusak, who heads the Moscow military district's press center, noted that 4,848 servicemen from the district's 13 parade regiments, or 42 companies, took part in the parade. Navy and Air Force personnel also marched past the Kremlin. As distinct from previous years, this parade didn't involve WWII veterans, who watched the parade from the grand-stands.