Checking in on regional Russian Victory Day parades. Mostly missing: professional enlisted who are deployed. Present: conscripts, cadets, instructors, other ministries. And, more tanks than in Moscow's parade. Highlights from the regions and thoughts 1/
Moving east to west: Vladivostok had a large parade, as did Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk, Yuzno-Sakhalinsk. Cadets, Yunarmiya, conscripts, MChs, Rosgvardia present. Just not the contractniki. Handfuls of tanks and BTRs. A lot of MVD equipment. 2/
Novosibirsk had a big parade, with the same thing -- cadets, Ground Forces conscripts, MVD, MChs, other units. A handful of IFVs and tanks, but other larger equipment. 3/
Nizhniy Novgorod, cadets, MVD and Rosgvardia, MChs, some conscripts from tank units, pictured. 4/
One more from Khabarovsk, 2S19 Msta artillery 5/
From Vladikavkaz, more of the same: conscripts, MChs, Rosgvardia, schools/cadets. /6
V-day in St. Petersburg, there are a lot TIGR vehicles in these parades, not associated with the Ground Forces. /7
The VDV story gets interesting. The VDV has taken heavy casualties and most of remaining units are in occupied Ukraine. Ryazan's parade was cancelled, (left) and their conscripts, cadets, and personnel marched in the Moscow Vday parade (right) /8
The VDV unit in Ivanovo (98th Guards) had a parade, looks like conscripts based on some of their ages, but not much VDV equipment present /9
Pskov, home of the 76th GAAD, cancelled most festivities. There are reportedly wounded soldiers there in hospitals, in various states of trauma and PTSD so fireworks were cancelled. Most of it is deployed along the Russian front. /10.
and finally, a sizeable event in Murmansk up in the north /11
and one more from Siberia (Chita) /12
In sum, the typical players were at these events, but the contract soldiers fighting in Ukraine are missing. There were few passing references to those fighting in Ukraine, that they were 'defending russia against faciscm' , and hopes for their safe return. /13
It's surreal watching these parades, venerating WW2 while no one can have an open discussion about what's happening to their CURRENT army and airborne -- both equipment and men-- that are being destroyed or damaged beyond repair. /end
did i miss up my own thread? here's the rest.
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