"Due to the current operational situation, students from Suvorov and Nakhimov military schools, cadet brigades, and mechanized equipment formations will not participate in this year's parade," the Russian Defense Ministry stated on 28/4. This announcement detailed the format for the upcoming May 9 Victory day parade on Red Square.

The ministry added that the parade formations will include representatives from military academies of all branches and forces of the Russian armed forces. The event will also feature an aerial display, with aerobatic teams and Su-25 attack aircraft releasing smoke in the colors of the Russian national flag as they fly over Red Square.

The live broadcast of the parade will incorporate footage of Russian service members' activities in the Ukraine campaign.

Russia's Yars intercontinental ballistic missile during a parade in Moscow in 5/2024. *Photo: AFP*

Victory day commemorates the end of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the largest and most devastating conflict in human history. Approximately 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians died defending their homeland and humanity against fascism.

The war concluded on 9/5/1945, when representatives of Nazi Germany signed an instrument of unconditional surrender before Allied representatives in Berlin. The Soviet Red Army held the first Victory day parade on 24/6/1945. Subsequent parades took place on 9/5 in 1965, 1985, and 1990.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia resumed the Victory day parade in Moscow from 1995. Since then, the event has occurred annually on 9/5. According to the TASS news agency, heavy military equipment began reappearing at the Victory day parade in 2008.

In 2020, Russia did not hold the Victory day parade on 9/5, postponing it to 24/6 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2025 Victory day parade in Moscow mobilized over 180 mechanized vehicles and 11,000 service members, including Russian soldiers and military contingents from 13 nations.

Thanh Danh (According to TASS, Reuters)