The2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade was held on9 May 2010 to commemorate the 65th anniversary of thecapitulation ofNazi Germany in 1945. The parade marks theSoviet Union's victory in theGreat Patriotic War.
It was the largestparade held inMoscow,Russia since theSoviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and saw 11,135 troops, 127 aircraft and helicopters, and the newTopol-M mobileintercontinental ballistic missile taking part. For the first time, the 2010 parade onRed Square also included military units from foreign countries who were allied with the Soviet Union duringWorld War II, with representation fromFrance,Poland, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States and members of theCommonwealth of Independent States.
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 thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[1]
Twenty aviation units of theRussian Air Force took part in the parade, which saw theIlyushin Il-76,Ilyushin Il-78,Antonov An-124,Sukhoi Su-27,Ilyushin Il-80,Beriev A-50,Tupolev Tu-22M,Sukhoi Su-25,Mikoyan MiG-29,Mikoyan MiG-31,Tupolev Tu-95 andTupolev Tu-160 performingflypasts. Also taking part for the first time were theYakovlev Yak-130 jet trainer aircraft and theMil Mi-26 heavy helicopter.[citation needed] Themobile ICBMTopol-M missile, that first appeared at the2009 parade, was shown here again for the second consecutive year.[citation needed]
The 2010 Parade marked the first time that foreign andCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS) soldiers joined Russian forces onRed Square for the parade.[1][2][3] Battalions from the CIS includedArmenia,Azerbaijan,Belarus,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Moldova,Tajikistan andUkraine among them. Upon request from thegovernment of Turkmenistan, the contingent fromTurkmenistan was led by an officer riding on horseback, with the horse (which was a descendant of thehorse used during the 1945 parade) being flown into Moscow fromAshgabat.[4]Poland was represented by the Representative Battalion of the Polish Armed Forces.[4] TheUnited Kingdom was represented by a detachment of 76 soldiers fromNumber 2 Company, 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, theCentral Band of the Royal Air Force andthe Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment.[1] TheUnited States was represented by the 2nd Battalion of the18th Infantry Regiment and theNaval Forces Europe Band.France was represented by pilots and aircraft from theNormandie-Niemen Air Regiment. The combined Russian and foreign massed bands performedSlavsya,Ode to Joy andDen Pobedy at the conclusion of the parade.Russian PresidentDmitry Medvedev called the inclusion of foreign troops in the parade recognition of their "common victory" inWorld War II.[5]
The inclusion of foreign troops in the parade was not without controversy. TheCommunist Party of the Russian Federation held aMay Day rally inMoscow, at which several thousand protesters used the rally to decry the inclusion of troops fromNATO countries in the parade.[citation needed] A poll run by theLevada Center saw 20 percent of respondents disapproving of the presence of foreign troops, with 8 percent being strongly opposed.[5]
Mihai Ghimpu, the ActingPresident of Moldova, stated in late April 2010, after previously accepting an invitation fromRussian 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 aMoldovan government source toldKommersant that this was only an excuse, and Ghimpu was choosing to improveMoldova's relations with Romania, which was not invited to attend the celebrations as it was anally 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 payMoldova 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]
German ChancellorAngela Merkel confirmed her attendance on 30 April,[citation needed] as didActing President of PolandBronisław Komorowski.[citation needed] Komorowski's attendance is said to be part of an effort to bolsterPoland–Russia relations, which improved after the death ofPolish PresidentLech Kaczyński in aplane crash near Smolensk in early April 2010.[citation needed] Kaczyński is said to have confirmed his attendance at the parade shortly prior to the crash in which he was killed,[citation needed] with reports in the week prior to his death showing that he was questioning his attendance.[citation needed]
Chinese leaderHu Jintao confirmed his attendance at the parade on 3 May.[citation needed] The following daySlovak PresidentIvan Gašparovič's attendance was confirmed.[7] Other world leaders who confirmed their attendance includedCzech PresidentVáclav Klaus,[8]French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy,[8]Italian Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi,[8]Serbian PresidentBoris Tadić,[9]Bulgarian PresidentGeorgi Parvanov,[10] andVietnamese PresidentNguyễn Minh Triết,[11] Leaders fromArmenia,Azerbaijan,Estonia,Greece,Israel,Kazakhstan,Latvia,Mongolia andSlovenia also confirmed their attendance.[9] On 8 May, Sarkozy and Berlusconi announced that they wouldn't be attending the parade in Moscow, so that they could deal with theeuro area crisis.[12][13]
Both the United Kingdom and the United States had planned to send high-profile representatives.Gordon Brown, thePrime Minister of the United Kingdom, was invited to Russia, but because of theUK general election he was unable to attend; theForeign and Commonwealth Office suggested the Prince of Wales (nowCharles III), instead.Barack Obama, thePresident of the United States, was also unable to attend, but offeredVice PresidentJoe Biden as the US representative; Biden was inBrussels as part of US efforts to improve relations with the European Union.[14][15] According toThe Guardian, both figures were rejected byRussian Prime MinisterVladimir Putin, however, in what both countries perceived as a diplomatic snub. This was put down to poorBritish relations with Russia over the UK's continuing refusal to extraditeBoris Berezovsky over Russian charges ofembezzlement, and because of Biden's close relations withGeorgian PresidentMikheil Saakashvili, who was widely unpopular in Russia because of the2008 Russia–Georgia War. The UK and US were instead represented by their ambassadors to Russia,Dame Anne Pringle andJohn Beyrle respectively.[15]
The list of heads of foreign states, governments and international organisations that attended the parade were:[16]
At 10:00 am (MSK), the clock ofSpasskaya Tower in theMoscow Kremlin rang and signalled the beginning of the parade commemorating the defeat ofNazi Germany by theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics in theGreat Patriotic War. The event then began with the display of theflag of Russia and theVictory Banner. After this, commander of theMoscow Military DistrictColonel GeneralValery Gerasimov, who commanded the parade, andAnatoly Serdyukov, theRussian Minister of Defence, who inspected the parade, joined and inspected the troops. At 10:14 am, Serdyukov reported to Supreme Commander-in-Chief, andRussian President,Dmitry Medvedev on the readiness of the troops.[18]
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 theNational 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 theCommonwealth of Independent States,Poland, theUnited Kingdom,France and theUnited States also marched. This was followed by a procession of 161 pieces of military hardware through Red Square, and 127 aircraft and helicopters making aflypast overthe 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 fromArmenia,Azerbaijan,Belarus,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Moldova,Tajikistan andUkraine marched. Each of these nations of theCommonwealth of Independent States were represented by some 70 troops. Following the participants from the CIS, was a guard of honour from thePolish Army, and they were followed by 71 members of theBritish 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 fromTurkmenistan, led by a commander riding on horseback, of which the horse has blood-lines to the horse lent toMarshalGeorgy 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.
Note: Those indicated inbold indicate first parade appearance, those indicated withitalic indicate double or multiple parade appearances.
Azerbaijani peacekeeping forces
Yerevan Capital Regiment, Armed Forces of Armenia
5th Spetsnaz Brigade of the Armed Forces of Belarus
Honor Guard Company of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan
8th Guards Motor Rifle Division of theArmed Forces of Kyrgyzstan
Honor Guard Company of theMoldovan National Army
Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan
Ukrainian Ground Forces Military Academy
Representative Battalion of the Polish Armed Forces
2nd Coy. 1st Battalion,Welsh Guards,British Army
18th Infantry Regiment,United States Army
Normandie-Niemen Air Regiment,French Air Force
Independent Honor Guard Battalion of the Ministry of Defence of Turkmenistan[20]
