KUBINKA (Moscow Region), April 20. /TASS/. Over 55,000 troops and 1,200 weapon systems will be involved in military parades across Russia on May 9 to mark the 73rd anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.

"Apart from Moscow, military parades will be held in 28 Russian cities. They will involve more than 55,000 troops and about 1,200 pieces of military hardware. The air component will comprise about 150 aircraft," Shoigu said at a visiting session of the Defense Ministry’s board at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center outside Moscow.

More than 13,000 troops, 159 weapon systems and 75 aircraft will take part in the military parade on Red Square in Moscow on May 9, the defense minister said.

"The mechanized column will comprise cutting-edge weapon systems, in particular, tank support combat vehicles, multifunctional robotic complexes and the most advanced air defense missile systems. For the first time ever, Su-57 fighter jets, and also Su-30SM and MiG-29SMT aircraft will fly over the capital," the defense minister noted.

For the first time ever, foot formations of the Russian Defense Ministry’s military police, the Vasilevsky Military Academy of Air Defense Troops (Smolensk), a branch of the Nakhimov naval school (Sevastopol), and also two of the National Guard’s educational institutions - the Saratov Military Institute and the Sholokhov Moscow Presidential Cadet School - will march across Red Square on Victory Day, the defense minister said.

Russia’s WWII Victory Day parade to showcase advanced weaponry

Russia’s advanced weaponry will be demonstrated for the first time at Moscow’s military parade on May 9, Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.

"This is the tank support combat vehicle [Terminator], the Su-57 one-seat supersonic experimental plane, the Uran-9 combat multifunctional robotic system, the Uran-6 multipurpose mine-clearance robotic vehicle and Korsar short-range drones," the defense minister said.

These advanced weapon systems are due to arrive for the Russian Armed Forces soon, he added.

Russia’s 5th-generation fighter jets to fly over Red Square during Victory Parade

A pair of Russia’s cutting-edge Su-57 fighter jets will fly for the first time over Moscow’s Red Square during the Victory Parade on May 9, the Defense Ministry announced earlier.

According to the defense ministry, this year the military parade will involve 73 crews of tactical, long-range, military transport and army aviation. Also, two Su-57 planes will take part in the parade.

Apart from the 5th-generation fighter jets, strategic Tu-160 and Tu-95MS missile-carrying aircraft, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, Il-78 aerial refueling tankers and Il-76MD military transport planes will fly over Moscow’s Red Square on Victory Day.

The parade flight formation will include Mi-26, Mi-8, Mi-28N, Ka-52 and Mi-35 helicopters, Su-35S, Su-30SM. MiG-29 and MiG-31BM fighter jets, Su-34 and Su-24M bombers while Su-25 attack aircraft will traditionally emit the smoke in the colors of the Russian flag.

As Russia’s Defense Ministry said, all the Aerospace Force’s crews involved in the parade had redeployed from the places of their permanent basing to operational aerodromes. Combat aircraft will take off from eight airfields in the Moscow, Tver, Saratov, Kaluga, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Nizhny Novgorod Regions to fly to the Victory Parade.

Army aviation crews will fly at an altitude of 150 meters and at a speed of 200 km per hour. The crews of tactical, long-range and military transport aircraft will fly at an altitude of 300 to 500 meters at a speed of up to 600 km per hour, the defense ministry said earlier.