MOSCOW 9 May 2008 Victory Day parade to bristle with weaponry

For the first time since the Soviet collapse, the Victory Day parade in Red Square will feature ballistic missiles, tanks, jets and other weapons in what is seen as a show of Russia flexing its military muscles. The new political order will also be on show. Dimitry Medvedev will be taking the salute as president. Vladimir Putin will have been prime minister for only one day.

The parade of 6,000 officers, soldiers, veterans and hardware, which includes the Topol Missile Complex, commemorates the end of World War II. The Soviet Union paid a heavy price in the war, losing an estimated 27 million soldiers and civilians. A majority of Russians have lost relatives in what is referred to in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. Putin has said that more than half of his relatives died during the war, including his older brother.

Tanks and mobile rockets rumbling past the Kremlin were a feature of the parades on May 9 in Soviet times. Post-Communist Russia slimmed down the parade to troops and light vehicles.

In 2008, the tanks will be fitted with rubber treads to protect the cobblestones of Red Square, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apr/08

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Rubber-soled tanks for Russia's victory parade (Reuters 9 Apr 2008)
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0932839420080409