Russia stages massive WW2 parade despite Western boycott

Discussion in 'All Anniversaries' started by dbf, May 9, 2015.

  1. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32668511


    Video in link
    The parade is a chance for Russia to show her continuing military might, as Lyse Doucet reports


    Russia has staged its biggest military parade, marking 70 years since victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

    Thousands of troops marched across Red Square in Moscow, and new armour was displayed for the first time.

    Many foreign dignitaries were present, but most Western leaders stayed away because of Russia's role in Ukraine.

    President Vladimir Putin said global co-operation had been put at risk in recent years. His Ukrainian counterpart accused him of justifying aggression.

    Russia denies claims by the West that it is arming rebels in eastern Ukraine. More than 6,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014 in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

    As it happened: Moscow parade


    Show of strength
    In his opening speech, President Putin paid tribute to the sacrifices of Soviet troops during World War Two. He also thanked "the people of Great Britain, France and the United States for their contribution to victory".

    But he added: "In recent decades the basic principles of international co-operation have been ignored ever more frequently. We see how a military-bloc mentality is gaining momentum."

    The remarks echo previous complaints by Mr Putin about what he says are efforts by the US and its Nato allies to encircle Russia militarily.

    Meanwhile, at a wreath-laying ceremony in Kiev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned Russia's portrayal of his government as fascist over the past year.

    "Obviously this is done with one aim alone - to justify... the Russian aggression against Ukraine."

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    A spectacular fly-by featured more that 100 warplanes, including long-range bombers

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    Intercontinental ballistic missile were also on show

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    President Putin (centre) sat alongside the presidents of China (third left) and Kazakhstan (far right)

    The victory parade in Moscow started at 10:00 local time (07:00 GMT). Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Pranab Mukherjee of India and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were among more than 20 world leaders watching the event.

    Military units from across Russia - some dressed in WW2-era uniforms - marched, and more than 100 aircraft flew over Red Square.

    [hr]

    BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall, Moscow:

    Compare this year's foreign guest list with previous years. This time, instead of Russia's European wartime allies, standing next to President Putin was the Chinese President, Xi Jinping.

    Other VIPs included the presidents of India, Egypt, and South Africa, Central Asian leaders, and longstanding Russian friends like Cuba and Venezuela.

    Most Western leaders stayed away in protest at Russia's actions in Ukraine, sending their ambassadors to the parade instead.

    Some denied it was a boycott, but the message was clear. "It wouldn't be appropriate for Western leaders to stand on a military podium with Mr Putin after Russia's annexation of Crimea," said one European diplomat.

    Marching in Moscow and Donetsk

    'Highlight was the aircraft'

    [hr]

    Also on show was the new, hi-tech Armata battle tank, which has a remote-controlled gun turret and reinforced capsule for the crew, as well as the RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles - each capable of delivering three nuclear warheads.

    In a sign of closer ties between Russia and China, a column of Chinese troops marched in Moscow for the first time.

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    In pictures: Russian WW2 Victory Day

    [hr]

    Russia's Great Patriotic War 1941-1945
    • 22 June 1941: Nazi German troops invade Soviet Union, despite 1939 non-aggression pact
    • Winter of 1942-43: German advance blocked at Stalingrad, south Russia - about two million soldiers and civilians die in long battle
    • 1944: Soviet offensive spreads across Eastern Europe as German troops retreat
    • 21 April 1945: Soviet troops enter Berlin
    • 30 April 1945: Hitler commits suicide
    • More than 60 million war dead globally - heaviest losses were Soviet, an estimated 26 million

    [hr]

    video in link
    "I've seen little children dressed up as Red Army soldiers", reports Sarah Rainsford outside the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow

    Military parades on a smaller scale were also held in other cities, including Sevastopol in Crimea - Ukraine's southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 - as well as the Ukrainian rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

    The US, Australia, Canada and most EU leaders avoided the celebrations in Russia - despite invitations - because of Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

    On Friday, Poland organised an alternative event for those leaders who refused to go to Moscow.
    Events in Gdansk were attended by the presidents of several countries, including Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Ukraine. Mr Ban, the UN chief, was also there.
     
  2. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32588868

    Russian WW2 parade: A tank-spotter's guide
    By Laurence Peter and Pavel Aksenov
    BBC News
    6 May 2015

    video in link
    The Armata T-14 tank was driven through Moscow in a parade rehearsal

    Russia will stage its biggest ever military parade on 9 May, to mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

    A rehearsal in central Moscow has revealed some new hi-tech Russian armour for the first time, lifting a veil of military secrecy.
    The most talked-about innovation is the Armata T-14 battle tank, described as a new-generation fighting machine to replace Soviet-era tanks.

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    The tank is highly automated - the Russian military says it could be the basis for a fully robotic tank in future.

    It has a remote-control gun turret with a 125mm smooth-bore cannon that can fire guided missiles as well as shells.
    The crew of three is housed in a reinforced capsule at the front, away from the firing systems.

    The Armata's chassis is adaptable - it can also serve as the platform for a heavy infantry fighting vehicle, an engineering vehicle, a multiple rocket launcher and some other variants.

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    Russia plans to bring in about 2,300 Armatas, starting in 2020, to replace Soviet-era tanks. They are built by UralVagonZavod.

    Jane's Defence Weekly says the T-14 and Russia's other new armoured systems are "principally clean-slate designs" that "represent the biggest change in Russia's armoured fighting vehicle families since the 1960s and 1970s".

    [hr]

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    Kurganets-25 armoured personnel carrier

    The new Kurganets-25 comes in two main tracked variants - the BTR and BMP. Both are armoured personnel carriers, but the BMP has more powerful guns and firing systems.

    The guns are remote-controlled and separated from the crew and infantry.

    Jane's reports that the Kurganets-25 can be fitted with a 57mm or 30mm cannon.

    The new design will replace the Russian army's Soviet-era BTRs and BMPs.

    [hr]

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    Boomerang armoured personnel carrier

    This is another new infantry fighting vehicle, which also has amphibious capabilities.

    The Boomerang chassis can also serve as a platform for other types of vehicle.

    Jane's says the design is similar to Western eight-wheel drive military vehicles, known as 8x8. In such designs all eight wheels receive power from the engine simultaneously.

    It is among the new vehicles highlighted by the Russian Defence Ministry on its website (in Russian).

    [hr]

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    RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile

    The RS-24 began equipping Russia's strategic rocket forces in 2009. It is an improvement on the Topol M system.

    The missile would deliver three nuclear warheads and would be fired either from a mobile launcher or a silo.

    The missile has decoy systems to confuse an enemy's air defences.

    [hr]

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    Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled artillery

    Koalitsiya-SV is a new self-propelled artillery system, said to be based on the Armata hull. It has a 152mm cannon and weighs about 55 tonnes.

    The Russian Defence Ministry says the system can hit targets from as far as 70km (43 miles).

    The weapon is designed to smash an enemy's armour and fortifications.

    [hr]

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    Buk surface-to-air missile launcher

    The Buk air defence system on show in Moscow is among many variants already in service in the Russian military.

    It has also been sold to several countries, including Azerbaijan, China and India.

    A Buk missile was blamed for downing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. Pro-Russian rebels are suspected of having fired the missile, as they had targeted Ukrainian military jets in the same area previously. All 298 people on board MH17 died. Russian and rebel officials rejected the allegations, arguing that a Ukrainian fighter jet was probably to blame.

    Buk missile launchers are accompanied by radar vehicles. The missile can reach a maximum altitude of 25,000m (82,500ft), and can intercept cruise missiles as well as aircraft.

    [hr]

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    Kornet-D anti-tank rocket system

    Russia has improved on the Kornet anti-tank system introduced in 2009.

    The rockets can target not only tanks but also aircraft, the Russian Defence Ministry says. They can pierce armour plating 130cm (4ft) thick.

    The targeting and guidance systems use high-resolution TV cameras, infra-red and laser technology.
     
  3. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/32672693

    In pictures: Russian WW2 Victory Day parade in Moscow

    Russia has staged a huge parade marking 70 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War Two. The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest casualties in the Great Patriotic War - as Russia calls the carnage of 1941-1945.

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    It was a poignant day for millions who lost relatives in the war, as well as veterans - many of whom attended the parade


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    Russian Defence Minister Gen Sergei Shoigu saluted the troops on Moscow's Red Square

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    President Putin (centre) sat alongside the presidents of China (third left) and Kazakhstan (far right)

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    Chinese troops marched in the annual parade for the first time - it has become a bigger event under Mr Putin

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    WW2 uniforms were on show as banners from the Soviet wartime fronts were paraded

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    Russia showed off its brand-new T-14 Armata tank - which boasts automatic firing systems and high-tech electronics

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    A Tu-160 strategic bomber was part of a fly-past by 143 aircraft
     
  4. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32650024

    Russia awash with symbols of WW2 victory
    By Vitaly Shevchenko
    BBC Monitoring
    8 May 2015


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    St George's ribbons are the most popular symbol of the Soviet victory in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War

    Russia is gripped by memories of World War Two on the eve of Victory Day, marking 70 years since Soviet forces and their Western allies defeated Nazi Germany.

    Hundreds of thousands of Russians are proudly sporting symbols which honour war veterans and hail their country's military might.

    But some of the displays have proved controversial, while others have prompted accusations of trivialising the memory of one of the greatest sacrifices in human history.

    There are also fears that war memories are being exploited to justify Russian belligerence towards Ukraine and the West.

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    Schoolgirls wear historical uniforms as Moscow prepares for a massive military parade on Victory Day, 9 May

    The St George's ribbon is by far the most popular symbol of victory displayed by Russians. It represents military valour, and was previously used with medals in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. It only came into widespread use in 2005 - apparently in reaction to orange ribbons which pro-democracy demonstrators in Ukraine had adopted as their symbol.

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    Some cashiers at the Moscow underground are wearing St George's ribbons and distinctive war-time caps

    Motorists in Russia put the ribbons on their cars, and women tie them to their handbags. They are also widely used on products, ranging from shoes and sofas to packs of frozen food and bottles of vodka. In Moscow, a grooming salon even offered to paint St George's ribbons on dogs' backsides.

    The ribbons' ubiquity and use in the unlikeliest of places has provoked a backlash from those who think it insults the memory of war veterans. Several MPs have urged restrictions. "You can't touch religious symbols, you can't put them on consumer goods," said Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a prominent nationalist MP.

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    The ribbons have now been elevated to almost religious status in Russia: here they are being consecrated by the top Orthodox clergyman in Yaroslavl, north of Moscow

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    State TV uses World War Two imagery to assert Russia's might and mark its resurgence

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    The St George's ribbon is worn by pro-Russian separatist militants in eastern Ukraine

    Some World War Two remembrance displays have caused controversy. Particularly contentious is the use of portraits of Joseph Stalin, as rights activists argue that he was responsible for the deaths of millions of Russians, and other Soviet nationalities.

    One portrait shows the Soviet wartime leader offering Victory Day greetings from huge billboards in the southern town of Mineralnye Vody.

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    A monument to Stalin has been erected by the Communist Party in Lipetsk, southwestern Russia

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    "We won't forgive, we won't forget" says the caption on this car sticker showing Stalin alongside Russia's President Putin

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    "Stalin is victory" says the inscription on a bus in St Petersburg

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    To mark the war anniversary, a taxi company in St Petersburg has put plastic "tank turrets" on its cars

    In Kaluga, central Russia, a banner threatened that Rome would be next for annexation after Crimea - the two names rhyme in Russian. It also listed the recent battle of Ilovaysk in Ukraine among the major victories scored by the Russian military over the centuries. Yet the Kremlin insists that no Russian regular troops are involved in the Ukraine crisis.

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    "Crimea today, Rome tomorrow", says this banner in Kaluga

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPML_FXjiHU

    Inmates at a St Petersburg prison were made to line up and form lines spelling Victory Day messages seen from the air. To mark the war anniversary, seals in a zoo in the Siberian city of Irkutsk were made to wear paratroopers' caps and swim with toy guns.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSAEhGnRg5Y

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    Seals performed a "military-patriotic show" at a zoo in Irkutsk

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    Prisoners in St Petersburg formed a message saying "Thank you for the victory!"

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    A victory-themed bake-off was held in Siberia, but state TV said it was "sacrilegious and offensive"

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    The Great Victory was even celebrated at a body-art contest in Izhevsk
     
  5. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32682063
    Germany's Angela Merkel in Moscow to mark end of WWII

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    Angela Merkel's visit to Moscow on Sunday is seen as a conciliatory move to Russia

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel has attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Moscow to commemorate the Russians killed during World War Two.

    Mrs Merkel and other Western leaders skipped a military parade in Red Square on Saturday over tensions with Ukraine.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that a Ukraine peace deal was progressing, despite problems.

    More than 6,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014 in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
    The Ukrainian government, Western leaders and independent experts say there is clear evidence that Russia is helping the rebels with heavy weapons and soldiers. Moscow denies it, insisting that any Russians serving with the rebels are "volunteers".

    'History lessons'
    In an apparent conciliatory sign after boycotting the military ceremony on Saturday, the German chancellor flew to the Russian capital on Sunday to lay a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Soldier, close to the Kremlin.

    ...
     

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