English

Victory Day parade in Minsk

A military parade featuring troops and materiel marked the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in Minsk on May 9, BelaPAN reports.

The event was held near the Minsk Hero City memorial in northwestern Minsk and drew a crowd of some 350,000 people, according to the presidential press office.

A minute of silence was followed by a speech by Alyaksandr Lukashenka who traditionally attacked attempts at what he described as “revising the history” and “distorting the truth about World War II.”

Some 30,000 servicemen took part in the parade, including personnel of the 120th Guards Independent Mechanized Brigade, the Border, Transport and Interior Troops, special-task and communications brigades, cadets of the Military Academy, the Military Faculty at Belarusian National Technical University and the Suvorov Minsk Military School.

The event was joined by troops representing the Russian and Ukrainian armies in the first-ever participation of foreign servicemen in a military parade in Belarus.

More than 130 units of military materiel were put on display, including S-300V anti-aircraft missile systems. Fighters, bombers, trainer jets and combat helicopters flew in formations over the crowd.

The parade culminated in a drill show by an elite company of honor guards.