MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. The night rehearsal of the Victory Day Parade began on Moscow’s Red Square on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
This year, the foot columns will comprise 37 parade units that will include officers, sergeants and soldiers of military units and formations, cadets of military educational institutions, Suvorov infantry and Nakhimov naval military schools and cadet corps, Young Army Movement members and also units of the Emergencies Ministry, the National Guard and the Border Guard Troops of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Overall, more than 12,000 servicemen will participate.
The mechanized column will comprise over 190 items of military and special hardware.
The legendary T-34 tanks will traditionally lead the mechanized column at the parade. They will be followed by advanced Taifun armored vehicles that have recently entered service with the Russian Armed Forces, including the latest Taifun-PVO special armored vehicles for transporting the personnel of man-portable air defense systems.
This year, T-72B3M, T-80BVM and T-90M ‘Proryv’ main battle tanks and also the cutting-edge T-14 Armata tank will roll through Moscow’s Red Square. The motorized infantry’s combat hardware will be represented by BMP-3 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles with Berezhok combat modules and the latest Kurganets-25 combat vehicle.
The armament of artillery and missile troops will be represented by an Iskander-M tactical missile system, a Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system, a Msta-S self-propelled howitzer and a Koalitsiya-SV multiservice force artillery system.
Advanced Buk-M3 and Tor-M2 medium-and short-range anti-aircraft missile systems will represent the armament of the Army’s battlefield air defense. The air defense forces’ military hardware will comprise Pantsyr-S anti-aircraft missile/gun launchers and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems that traditionally participate in military parades on Moscow’s Red Square.
The armament of the Airborne Force will include BMD-4M and BTR-MDM ‘Rakushka’ airborne infantry fighting vehicles.
The mechanized column will also include TOS-1A heavy flamethrower vehicles, remote-controlled mine-clearing vehicles, launchers of Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers and the advanced wheeled armored personnel carrier based on the Bumerang platform.
Special armored vehicles will represent the National Guard and military police.
The final rehearsal that will also include the airborne parade will take place on May 7.