Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to preside over a patriotic military parade on Victory Day of World War II today. The military parade is a highly anticipated show of military strength as Russia’s relations with the West have tightened this year.
Reuters reports that the parade, held in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 76th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, is expected to involve more than 12,000 troops and display more than 190 pieces of military hardware equipment, including intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, weather permitting, there will be nearly 80 military aircraft flying overhead.
Vladimir Putin, who has been in power either as president or prime minister since 1999, has always invited Soviet World War II veterans to join him on the parade stage. This year’s parade is expected to begin at 7 a.m. GMT.
Russia will hold parliamentary elections in September, and Moscow authorities are currently at an impasse with the West over issues such as Russia-Ukraine relations and the fate of dissident Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment.
Russia has been involved in similar diplomatic disputes with European Union countries in recent months, in addition to the mutual expulsion of diplomats with the United States.
Russia has recently deployed heavy troops to the Ukrainian border and the Crimea peninsula, which it annexed in 2014; the fighting between pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country and U.S. government forces has also heated up.
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