Kubinka (Russia)                                                                                                                                                            20 April 2018                                                                                                                                                              (Tass News)

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, multi-functional 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 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.

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.