MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th May, 2022) The military parade commemorating the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II on the Red Square in Moscow has finished with a passage of a mechanized column, with a total amount of 131 pieces of military equipment taking part in it, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
The T-34, a Soviet tank, constituting the backbone of the country's military equipment during World War II, started the parade, followed by armored vehicles, infantry combat vehicles, tanks, operational-tactical missile systems, rocket systems, anti aircraft missile systems and strategic complexes.
"Dear citizens of Russia, ... I congratulate you on the great Victory Day. Protection of the motherland, when its fate was being decided, has always been sacred," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
The president added that one of the features of this year's parade is the participation of the military, who took part in the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine.
"At the moment, soldiers and officers from many regions of our large homeland are standing shoulder to shoulder here on the Red Square, including those who came directly from Donbas, from the combat zone," Putin said.
The president said that the US authorities prohibited US veterans from attending the parade in Moscow, adding that Russia honors contribution of all allies to the common victory, including US, UK, French, Chinese soldiers and guerrilla fighters, "everybody, who defeated Nazism and militarism."
Putin went on to say that it was necessary to cherish the memory of those who fought Nazism and do everything possible to prevent the horrors of a global war from happening again.
It was planned for the parade to include an aerial portion but it was cancelled due to weather conditions, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik.
