Tanks and the city: Moscow holds final night rehearsal before May 9

Over 10,000 service personnel, plus more than 100 military vehicles, spent the night of May 4 parading through the streets of central Moscow and Red Square.

Local residents had a chance to follow the action through the city center. Some even met up with loved ones.

This column of light and heavy equipment consists of 114 vehicles. Among them are BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, Tiger-M armored vehicles with Arbalet combat modules and Koalitsiya-SV and Msta-S self-propelled howitzers.

The parade rehearsal is a unique opportunity for parents to show their children military hardware in action.

This year’s debutants will be the Arctic Pantsir-SA anti-aircraft missile-and-gun complex and the Tor-M2DT anti-aircraft missile system, as well as support vehicles specially designed for the Far North.

The columns of armored vehicles even passed under the windows of the Moscow City Hall.

An Msta-S self-propelled howitzer moves through the city center.

Service personnel take part in a rehearsal for this year’s military parade on Red Square to mark the 72nd anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Cadets from the illustrious Suvorov and Nakhimov Military Academies march across Red Square.

They will be joined on Red Square by cadets from other schools, soldiers of the Western Military District, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and members of the National Guard of Russia and the FSB.

Some of the leading roles in the parade are assigned to members of the Guard of Honor, which opens the annual procession on Red Square.

The morning of May 4 saw the first aviation rehearsal. Among the frontline and long-range aircraft roaring over the heads of onlookers were Su-35, Su-27 and Su-34 fighter jets.

You can watch the May 9 parade live on RBTH’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.