Troops from four NATO states marched through Red Square for the first time yesterday as Russia marked victory in World War II with its biggest military parade since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In a moment of huge symbolism, soldiers from the Soviet Union’s postwar foes Britain, France and the US stepped onto the square’s famed cobbles under blazing sunshine.
A guard of honor from ex-communist Poland, which joined NATO in 1999 and in recent months has seen a dramatic improvement in relations with Moscow, also marched in the parade.
PHOTO: AFP
Around two dozen world leaders were attending the 65th anniversary of the Allied victory, including Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of state of almost all the ex-Soviet nations.
“Sixty-five years ago, Nazism was defeated and a machine that was exterminating whole peoples was halted,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a speech to the parade. “There was blood and tears. There was one choice — either victory or to become slaves. The war made us a strong nation.”
Britain’s 1st Battalion Welsh Guards marched in their full ceremonial uniform including traditional bearskin hats, red marching jackets and black trousers.
France was represented by the Normandie-Niemen squadron, which was created during World War II and fought on the Eastern Front, while the US sent a detachment from the 2nd Battalion, 18th Regiment.
Seventy-five members of a Polish battalion marched in ceremonial uniforms representing the army, air force and navy of the Polish armed forces.
A total of 127 military aircraft roared through the sky during the 70-minute parade while 159 pieces of military hardware drove past the VIP grandstand erected in front of Lenin’s mausoleum.
More than 10,000 Russian troops and hundreds of units of military hardware including nuclear-capable Topol-M missiles took part in the finely choreographed parade to impress the world with Russia’s post-Soviet resurgence.
“Greetings comrades! I congratulate you on the 65th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War,” said Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, while standing up in a black open-top Zil car as he inspected the Russian troops.
“Hurrah!” replied the troops in chorus, sending a huge wave of sound across Red Square.
A civilian and former furniture executive, Serdyukov wore a suit rather than military uniform.
The authorities have made every effort to turn the day into a massive holiday, hanging banners with slogans like “Victory — Let Us Be Proud” across major streets and pinning huge murals to the sides of apartment blocks.
World War II is known in Russian as the Great Patriotic War and is considered to have started in 1941 with the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union that brought Moscow into the war, rather than 1939.
The heroism of parents and grandparents in battles in places like Stalingrad and Kursk remains the subject of fierce pride in Russian families and the authorities bristle at any attempts to tarnish the memory of the Soviet sacrifice.
With Russia still finding its national identity almost two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the surrender of Nazi forces is seen by the authorities as a moment which can unify modern Russia.
However, liberal analysts have expressed cynicism over the Moscow parade costing 1.3 billion rubles (US$40 million), saying the authorities are using the event for a show of might to reinforce their own power.
A controversial plan to plaster posters of wartime dictator Joseph Stalin around the city was shelved — reportedly on the Kremlin’s orders — and the pictures will now only be shown in museums.
The Western allies marked Victory in Europe Day on Saturday, but Russia celebrated Victory Day yesterday as the German surrender went into force at 11:01pm Berlin time, when it was already May 9 in Moscow.
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