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.[1]
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.[citation needed] 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.[5]
International dignitaries
Mihai Ghimpu, the Acting President of Moldova, stated in late April 2010, after previously accepting an invitation from Russian PresidentDmitry 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.[citation needed]Russian Foreign MinisterSergey 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.[citation needed]King Michael of Romania, the last head of state alive from World War II, was invited by Russian president Medvedev to attend the ceremony.[6]
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 civilisation." 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.[18][19]
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".[18]
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 MarshalGeorgy Zhukov by Stalin for the original parade.[18] 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, Commander of the Moscow Military District (parade commander)
Defense Minister of the Russian Federation Anatoliy Serdyukov (parade inspector)