The main square of the capital of the Republic hosted a military parade of the Donetsk garrison, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. According to a correspondent of the official website of the Donetsk People’s Police, more than 1.5 thousand soldiers of the DPR People’s Militia, parade crews of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Emergency Situations and military equipment took part in the parade on June 24. The military parade was also attended by members of the Young Guard-Yunarmiya Military Patriotic Movement and the People’s Patrol.
The parade started with the raising of the State Flag of the DPR and a copy of the Victory Banner that Soviet soldiers hoisted over the defeated Reichstag in 1945.
The parade was taken by chief of the People’s Militia Directorate General Major Denis Sinenkov, deputy chief of the PMD Colonel Eduard Pelishenko led the parade. Having reviewed the troops, the parade host reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Head of the Republic Denis Pushilin.
During the event, those present observed a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War.
The parade started with the procession of the infantry parade crews dressed in GPW military uniform of pilots, navy, infantrymen and NKVD interior forces. They carried the standards of the Southern and South-Western Fronts, as well as the banners of forces and units that took part in the liberation of Donbass in 1943.
Then, military personnel from DPR People’s Militia forces and units, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Interior Troops and Emergencies Ministry, cadets, lyceum students and members of Yunarmiya marched along the main square of the DPR capital.
The second part of the solemn march featured the procession of military equipment, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery systems, guns and mortars. The legendary tank T-34-85, one of the symbols of the Victory, led the convoy of historical vehicles.
The parade also featured modern military equipment of the armed forces: armored personnel carriers BTR-80, infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1 and BMP-2, main battle tanks T-72 and T-64, self-propelled artillery systems 2S1 Gvozdika, self-propelled artillery guns 2S9 Nona, anti-aircraft missile systems Strela-10, various artillery mounts and 120mm regimental mortars. For the first time the parade featured unmanned aerial vehicles that were seized from the armed forces of Ukraine and taken into use by the People’s Militia.