Backstage at regional Victory Day parades

[fromSalekhard]

Content

Parade May 9, 2021. Yekaterinburg.

Rehearsal for the 2022 parade. Yekaterinburg.

Preparing for the parade on May 9, 2022. Yekaterinburg.

Verkhnyaya Pyshma. May 9, 2022.

Rehearsal for the 2023 parade. Omsk

Distribution of Holidays for the First Half of May in Russia

Before the 2023 parade. Omsk.

Parade rehearsal, 2024. Chelyabinsk

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Introduction

Traditionally, for a foreign audience, I preface a series of reports with a short introduction. I had intended to start this one with the history of military parades on Red Square, but then I changed my mind. Because it’s precisely the parades in Moscow that I’m not going to talk about. However, if you’re interested, we can cover that later.

This year I wanted to go to the main parade, but I found out in time that there would be no equipment there. Good thing I didn’t have time to buy plane tickets.

I was upset by the lack of equipment. I have read that foreign analysts believe that the main reasons for the modest parade this year are security concerns and cost savings. I’m partially inclined to agree with them, but I think the main reason is that this is not an anniversary parade. Unlike last year’s big anniversary celebration – 80 years since Victory Day. In 2024 and a number of other years, there were also modest parades. In Russia, we make a big distinction between a simple anniversary and a jubilee date.

It’s quite possible that not everyone knows that military parades on May 9th take place not only in Moscow, but in virtually all 89 regions of the Russian Federation. Or rather, in regional capitals. Although not only in them.

They vary greatly: their scale, the composition of the participating units and equipment depend on local civil and military authorities.

Naval parades are held in maritime cities such as Vladivostok, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad.
In 2021, I discovered parades as a source of introduction to military equipment.

Although my first experience wasn’t entirely successful, I’ve attended parades in various regions every year since then, except this year. That’s what I want to tell you about.

I believe that these events and my reports about them will be unusual for you and, at least for that reason, interesting.
Otherwise, I can always stop the story.

I also think it’s necessary to clarify that parades are not commercial shows; tickets are not sold for them. Access to the stands is by special invitation only, which is distributed in advance and according to a special list. Priority is given to veterans and prominent figures in the civil and military administration. The remainder goes to city organizations, educational institutions, local parties and religious groups, public and patriotic organizations, and so on.

That is, I can’t just go and buy a ticket to a performance in a strange city. I can’t even do that in my own city. Although, where I used to live, I could do this, because I belonged to one of the categories that issue invitation cards.

[fromSalekhard]

Parade May 9, 2021. Yekaterinburg.

This first visit was quite spontaneous, therefore ill-considered and unprepared. As a result, I ended up in a not very good place and realized that I needed to prepare in advance.

I stood two hundred meters from the parade site - I couldn’t get any closer. To do this you need to know the area, and I’m not a local.

My field of view—and, consequently, my opportunities for taking photos—was limited; moreover, it was periodically obstructed, now by soldiers, now by security personnel. It’s a good thing I had a camera with a 25x zoom with me, because in reality, the scene looked like this.

The parade opened with a historical part: cavalry

and armored vehicles of the WWII. At the head of which traditionally follows the T-34 tank.

Text on the vehicle: The Urals — to the Front! For the Motherland! Glory to the Red Army!

Local residents managed to get very close. Well, that’s only fair—it’s their city.

By the way, take note: the street signs are duplicated in English. This is not a consequence of the machine translation I implemented. So, you won’t get lost in Yekaterinburg. Plus—as is the case in any major city—there are plenty of people there who speak English.

Where, imperceptibly to most viewers, post-war equipment was also mixed.

Text on the vehicle: Death to the enemies! Glory to the victorious warriors!

(The little red riding hood is a guard blocking the view. I had to shout to him and ask him to move.)

In short, there are no good and worthy photographs of publication. I will take the liberty of posting visual photos of equipment in full dress, desert and arctic camouflage.

At the parade there were interesting and unknown to me samples of equipment,

but only a tank tractor on a trawl was available for a full view, standing aside all the time.

I must say that the event caused a feeling of deep disappointment, and if it were not for the parade in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, then the day would remain a negative stain in my life.

P.S. Then I got a little smarter and began to better organize my visits to such events. But you can’t rewrite history, so I’m beginning this story with that unfortunate episode.

[fromSalekhard]

Rehearsal for the 2022 parade. Yekaterinburg.

Since I felt left out by the results of the previous event, but had no doubt about its appeal, I decided to repeat the visit next year in 2022.

It’s no secret that the parade is preceded by a rehearsal, or even more than one. The last dress rehearsal of the military parade in 2022 in Yekaterinburg took place on May 7. If the previous rehearsals took place in the evening, then this last one – in the afternoon. This introduced an element of uncertainty into the schedule of the event. And, such a sadness, when I arrived at the place, the wheeled vehicles had already taken their pre-launch positions, and the unloading of the tracked vehicles was in full swing. Someone has already been unloaded

someone else was in the process

The synchronous unloading of self-propelled guns is a very impressive sight, even from a not entirely successful angle – partly against the sun

but special people in uniform put military interests above my personal ones and did not allow me to move freely.

MSTA in size – a small caterpillar cottage! Personally, I am fascinated by this machine

and I look forward to the moment when I start to assemble her model.

Gradually, the technique lined up according to the sequence of passage:

from the period of the WWII and post-war

Text on the vehicle: For the Motherland, For Honor, For Freedom. Death to the enemies!

up to modern models of technology

Since the events stopped and I already looked at everything in this territory (where it was possible to penetrate), I decided to move to the finishing stage.

As it turned out, it was a wise decision: before the start of the movement, the guards were not yet everywhere and were quite liberal. Then already where I passed, it would be impossible to pass.

On the way, I looked with great pleasure at the marching columns of various types of troops.

In the same place as last year, a tractor on a trailer was found

Less camouflaged, but just as unclaimed. And thank God!

At the final stage, after passing the parade, wheeled retro vehicles drove past me.

Text on the vehicle: Be a hero, soldier! Not an inch of Russian soil! The enemy will be defeated!

Tracked vehicles went to the place of loading.

In the kit for unloading the self-propelled guns, with great pleasure and in close proximity, I also observed the reverse procedure.

And all this column went to the place of deployment

in compliance with the rules of the road

I must say that the rehearsal of the parade brought me much more impressions and positive emotions than last year’s parade here. I think that this is a general trend, but in order to test it, I have planned a visit to the rehearsal of the parade in St. Petersburg on the Day of the Navy.

[wasthere]

Thanks (from Australia ) for the photos and taking the time .

[fromSalekhard]

Preparing for the parade on May 9, 2022. Yekaterinburg.

Having learned from bitter experience, I arrived there very early on May 9th. I even managed to have a cup of coffee at a 24-hour spot that was packed with people. Damn, I already forgot that you can consume alcohol until the morning! What does age mean, but it used to be …

I must say that security measures have been significantly strengthened. So I managed to park half a kilometer from the previous parking spot. And this is good because, according to rumors, all cars in the closed area are taken out by tow trucks. Regardless of compliance with traffic rules.

A detachment of sappers with a attached dog handler constantly cruised along the location of the equipment.

They came across to me three times and this despite the fact that I did not track them on purpose. Until eight in the morning, there were no special restrictions. It was only later that policemen and military men in high ranks began to actively arrive. And now these have already put things in order.

First, wheeled vehicles arrived under their own power.

Preparing for the parade on May 9, 2022. Yekaterinburg.

Both now and in the future, video content will continue to appear on my website. I prefer not to host large files directly on my own website as it is quite expensive. That’s why I store them on free Rutube hosting. To the best of my knowledge, this service is not blocked anywhere, so the videos should be available for viewing. However, if you discover that this is not the case, please let me know—I will certainly look into the matter and find an alternative solution.

including period of the WWII and the early post-war.

Inscriptions: Not a single inch of Russian soil! The Motherland calls! Not a step back! Be a hero, soldier! We shall live! The enemy will be defeated!

Trailers with tracked armored vehicles followed, starting with the T-34

and so on in the list.

Preparing for the parade on May 9, 2022. Yekaterinburg.

They all turned around at the nearest crossroads and lined up for unloading.

And if at the rehearsal I was “unloading” the self-propelled guns, then here I concentrated on the Terminator.

Preparing for the parade on May 9, 2022. Yekaterinburg.

and all movement stopped.

It seems to me that at the rehearsal there were no trailers with banners.

(Text №1: “The iron wind hit them in the face, and they went forward, and a feeling of superstitious fear seized the enemy: Did people go on the attack? Are they mortals?” Vasily Grossman“.

Text №2: “Great is Russia, but there is nowhere to retreat. Behind us is Moscow!“ Vasily Klochkov.“

Text №3: “Everything for the front! Everything to win!”

The personnel, out of habit, brought the last gloss,

and the steel added to the voice of the police guards made me retreat. Making my way to freedom through four posts, I even began to fear that they would not let me out at some one. But nothing happened.

I didn’t go to the place of loading: I had already seen it and it was a long way to go. Yes, and in Verkhnyaya Pyshma I wanted to arrive earlier.

I must say that I was extremely pleased with the trip. On the next May 9, I will definitely go to some other city. A friend highly recommended Volgograd, he says there is no such atmosphere anywhere else. Every year they specially come there with a company.

[fromSalekhard]

Verkhnyaya Pyshma. May 9, 2022.

The parades in Yekaterinburg and Verkhnyaya Pyshma are scheduled so that people can attend both events on the same day. That’s only if they hurry, of course. That’s why I had to miss the end of the parade in Yekaterinburg.

When we arrived, the equipment was already at the starting positions, under sparse but reliable security.

The crews were no longer busy with any primping, but were happily while away the time before the event began.

The crowd was growing, the stands were filling up.

We, as seasoned guys, tried to find out the expected route of the equipment in order to choose the most advantageous places, just like last time. And here we were in for a major disappointment! I’m not sure exactly why (I can name a bunch: preserving the city’s street surfaces, reducing the number of vehicles participating in the parade, refusing to allocate forces for the cordon, etc.), but the route was VERY shortened.

Accordingly, the density of spectators on the roadsides has increased significantly. You can judge for yourself by comparing it to last year’s situation.
The event’s increased popularity, thanks to various online writers, including myself, also contributed to the increase in attendance.

So we couldn’t find anything better to do than take this place.

And that policewoman is blocking my view! But you can’t swear — there are children there. And lots of them. My middle-aged fellow travelers were pushed away from the fence. I, taking advantage of my pensioner appearance and nature, defended my place in the front rows: they still have their whole lives ahead of them, they’ll see enough.

I combined video footage from two phones (mine and a colleague’s) into one almost 400-second video.

Parade May 9, 2022. Verkhnyaya Pyshma

For this purpose, I decided to buy a program and cut and pasted videos for the first time — please don’t blame me. I also compiled last year’s footage into one video (twice as long).

Parade May 9, 2021. Verkhnyaya Pyshma

In both cases, it must be understood that the filming was conducted outside the official, ceremonial distance.

It follows that this year we didn’t see the parade of personnel and all the Lend-Lease equipment.

While last year I was completely disappointed with the parade in Yekaterinburg and overjoyed in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, this year it was the complete opposite.

And even the aerobatic team couldn’t save the mood.

[fromSalekhard]

Rehearsal for the 2023 parade. Omsk

In 2023, I chose the eastern direction for my trip - the city of Novosibirsk (1300 km). While it is technically possible to cover such a distance by car in a single day, it is extremely grueling; therefore, I selected Omsk as my stopover point—a city situated exactly halfway along the route. There I decided to watch the dress rehearsal for the parade and, on the way back, the May 9th parade itself.

I invite you to watch the parade in Omsk that took place on May 9, 2023—or, to be more precise, just its dress rehearsal for now.

Once again, I was convinced of this: parade rehearsals, while perhaps less spectacular, are far more accessible to the public. In 2023, the dress rehearsal in Omsk was held on May 6. The entire spectacle unfolds on Sobornaya Square—the origin of whose name requires no head-scratching to figure out.

If you arrive early, you can watch the columns gather for formation. The Yunarmiya girls, wearing their traditional huge white bows, are the first to arrive, followed by the boys, who follow just as diligently.

Then, as is customary in decent society, come the women.

And then men from all branches of the military followed.

At the head of the column are two banner groups: ceremonial and historical.

It should be noted that all this is happening in a calm atmosphere both in the square itself and around it.

And where it would be impossible to get through during the actual celebration, it’s now free. Even a bit empty.

Having waited for the completion of the parade formation of troops,

I went to look for armored vehicles. The roadway was blocked by special vehicles,

and then, after them, behind a line of light vehicles (since the oncoming lane of the road was being used in the usual mode), what we were looking for appeared.

This way, without cars, it’s easier to see.

The structure of the column is traditional: T-34 at the head,

then several historical cars, not all of which are from the WWII period,

and then a certain set of modern military equipment, starting with wheeled ones,

the composition, quantity and assortment of which are determined by the military units located nearby.

Certain automotive behemoths don’t stir a bit — they loom like stranded whales along the shoulder.

And only then, after the towed artillery,

tracked vehicles are coming.

I think the local mayor’s heart bleeds every time after the holiday, seeing what tanks do to the city’s peaceful asphalt.

Since all the actors were frozen in anticipation, and I had a lot planned and being a passive observer was not part of my plans,

I decided to go and visit the other places I’d planned. Museum tourism is a tough business!

Imagine my surprise when, returning late in the evening, I heard strangely familiar sounds in the city center. Walking towards the sound, I couldn’t believe my eyes: the rehearsal was still going on.

And only by 10:00 pm the tired soldiers dispersed to the buses waiting for them.

And the temple stood silently and was still just as beautiful and magnificent!

[fromSalekhard]

Distribution of Holidays for the First Half of May in Russia

I believe it is necessary to offer my international readers one more clarification regarding Russian reality: specifically, what makes May 9th—aside from patriotism—such a compelling occasion for undertaking long-distance journeys.

Russia isn’t the champion when it comes to the number of non-working holidays, but we have a rather clever way of organizing them: if a holiday falls on a non-working day (Saturday or Sunday), that non-working day is moved to another day.

The government decides which day it is moved to. At the end of each year, a special legal decree is issued, publishing the official schedule of holidays and weekends for the upcoming year.

In May, we celebrate two holidays: May 1st—International Workers’ Solidarity Day—and May 9th—Victory Day.

Early May in Russia is a good time for gardening for those with dachas (small country plots with small houses for temporary residence - if you don’t know this concept, it’s easier to look on YouTube, there are plenty of English-language materials on this topic) or for getting out into nature for recreation (passive and active). The government takes this into account and tries to organize as many days off as possible during this period.

It varies from year to year (see table), but even if the days off are not consecutive, you can take 2-4 days off from work and get almost two weeks off - practically a whole vacation.

Non-working days are highlighted in red.

During this time, the cost of transportation tickets and accommodation at vacation spots tends to rise; business activity grinds to a halt; liquor stores and garden centers see a massive surge in sales; and the streets of major cities become noticeably less crowded. The exceptions are Moscow and St. Petersburg—where, conversely, the crowds seem to grow even larger.

Business activity begins to wind down long before the holidays actually arrive, as everyone is busy making preparations. If they are planning to start some big project, they say, “Let’s do it after the May holidays.”

The situation is practically the same with the first weeks of January - we have New Year and Orthodox Christmas - a week and a half of non-working days.

P.S. If a workday immediately precedes a holiday, working hours are reduced by one hour.

[Stikpusher]

Thank you for sharing these photos.

[fromSalekhard]

Before the 2023 parade. Omsk.

On the morning of May 9, I returned to Omsk again.
The good thing about being at the dress rehearsal is that when it comes to the actual parade, you kind of already know everything. Specifically, where the vehicles are parked. Remember the tank tracks on the asphalt—that’s how I tracked them!

I don’t know about you, but at 6 a.m. I dream of a cup of coffee. This guy agrees with me.

And so it happened that military equipment and coffee were combined in space and time. The 24-hour Café Santino provided me with the coveted drink

and a great view from their balcony.

I didn’t sit there all the time, but periodically went down and admired the military equipment up close.

Although there were restrictions there too: you can’t just walk up and take point-blank photos of equipment that people are actively fussing around.

And they bustled about there quite a bit! Right down to polishing the rollers and wheels, polishing the cabins and flashing beacons,

and even polishing tank barrels.

I must say I was carried away by such zeal, and since it was extremely early, I went ahead and ordered a couple of dozen servings of freshly brewed coffee for the warriors. I hope this gave them some energy.

By the way, the tanks looked very epic.

Like: grandfather and grandson.

A short photo run following real signs of (minor) wear on the chassis.

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But not everyone was given such a responsible and honorable job. Some of the warriors were quite relaxed,

and in general in the form of soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.

Some, especially the savvy ones, kept the weapons entrusted to them covered. At the right moment, they took it out – and voila!

From time to time I ran out to see what was going on in the square.

There was also military equipment there and it was also being looked after by soldiers.

It’s just that both the technology and the warriors were much older. As it later became clear, they were all members of the local patriotic club.

I reached the square and made sure that it was quiet and calm there.

Then I came back.

So, with all this walking, I missed the moment when the equipment was leaving. Especially the T-34!

It was a shame. I was offended. And I left.

In fact, I wanted to get home before dark, and there were still more than 600 kilometers to go. However, somewhere on the outskirts of the city, I was drawn by a massive accumulation of cars around a local park.
The center of the action was an area with military equipment in open access.

Our people take great pleasure in climbing where they shouldn’t, and where they should — they help children climb up.

On the other side of the site there was fire equipment, but it was in less demand.

[fromSalekhard]

Parade rehearsal, 2024. Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk is one of the closest regional cities to me (460 km away) that hosts military parades on May 9, so naturally I attended.
Again, not the parade itself, but its dress rehearsal. Judging by the number of people in the photos, you can tell that the equipment itself and I are in an area closed to the public. Getting there was quite difficult, but it didn’t require much effort, just a little ingenuity and an understanding of the Russian mentality. Everything was within the law.

There was a lot of motor vehicles, with an emphasis on military equipment and those from the Great Patriotic War. Apparently, there’s a reputable military-patriotic club based here.

I had the opportunity and pleasure to closely and thoroughly examine a convoy of military trucks with various equipment.

I also looked at the GAZ-67 – I have plans for that model.

But I was a bit embarrassed with the jeeps: I looked and saw people sitting there who looked like they were from the Korean War. I thought they were ours, Buryats, and made a joke about the similarity. And only by their reaction did I realize that these were not ours, but the Chinese.

It’s a big mystery how they got there.

Well, who could have imagined that in Chelyabinsk they would be bringing columns of Chinese to a parade!

Not only military vehicles but also civilian ones were on display.

It may be a little outside the declared period, but it is still very watchable.

The motorcycles are also interesting.

And after the war there was and is a lot of interesting equipment, starting from the BTR-40 armored personnel carrier and

and the LuAZ-967 front edge transporter

It’s very illustrative when equipment from different generations appears in a single frame.

The real difference here isn’t so much age as build. In any case, there was a solid representation of trucks.

It has become popular to bring various technical vehicles to parades.

I was thinking about how to move from trucks to armored vehicles: here’s an intermediate option.

If we continue the transformation in this direction, then from armored vehicles

quickly move on to the armored personnel carrier.

And from there it’s just a stone’s throw to the tanks,

but we won’t get there—the policemen won’t let us in. There, those ones, near the pole.

Politely, kindly, but they won’t let me in. So I’ll watch everything from that pole. If you want, you can have a look too.

Parade rehearsal, 2024. Chelyabinsk.

I didn’t add any sound on purpose—the real roar of the engines is more engaging.

The video shows that the equipment is moving not only along this street, but also along the intersecting one. But I couldn’t get there. Maybe another time.

P.S. I would be gravely mistaken not to draw your attention to the «Blue Birds» — special vehicles designed for locating re‑entry spacecraft and transporting astronauts.

A truly rare beast in general, and at parades in particular. Previously, I thought that these were just one-off specimens with their own names. But no, only about 15 ZIL-49061 were produced.

[Stikpusher]

I do love seeing all the WWII era equipment. Nice to see that so much is still kept in running condition there, both AFVs and soft skins.

[Dioramartin]

Thanks again Yuri for a treasure-trove of reference photos - and commentary, in extraordinary idiomatic and perfect English language. Not something any translation program could reproduce accurately, I can’t help but admire someone who masters a foreign language to the level you have.

I was interested in the (Chinese) Gaz jeep – would you say it was un-modified from the original Russian version? Did they copy it, or buy some from Russia?

Also interested to learn how you would define “the Russian mentality” in the context you mentioned it. I’m not trying to trap you, I’m just curious if you meant they didn’t want you to take close-up photos (?) of what was a public parade? The vehicles were not exactly state-of-the-art vehicles!

[fromSalekhard]

Thank you for your questions!

Unfortunately, I cannot provide details about the cars. I don’t know all that much about them.

These parades are purely public events, with no restrictions on photography. In Moscow, foreign diplomats and military representatives are specially invited to such events – this can be seen during any report from Red Square.

The role of the police cordon is not to protect military equipment from outsiders, but rather to protect people from the equipment. There is a large concentration of various vehicles there, most of which aren’t designed for city traffic. You’d agree it would be a shame if a bystander were accidentally injured during the event. And no one has cancelled general safety measures for events with large crowds of people.

Neither the police officers near the vehicles nor the military personnel inside them raise any objections to people taking photos.

As for the Russian mentality: if you see a police cordon ahead, would you walk right through it? Unless, of course, that was your specific goal. The Russian won’t go either, but if he needs to go there, he will look for alternate routes. We have a saying: “If it’s forbidden but you really want to do it, then it’s allowed.” This applies to corrupt officials, to children climbing on museum exhibits, and to me, wanting to get closer to look at the vehicles.

All the roads and pedestrian exits were blocked off, except for one—the path leading from the nearest police station. That was the one I found.

PS As for the translation, it’s still a machine translation. My English skills are sufficient only to oversee the process. When I feel that the original meaning has not been conveyed, I change the original phrase. If that doesn’t work, I turn to AI, which offers a handful of options, and I choose the one that seems closest to the mark.
Alas, I cannot hold a conversation in English. Furthermore, I don’t understand native speakers—though I do understand others.

There was an incident when our luggage was lost in Kuala Lumpur.
A German woman spoke to the staff in English because I couldn’t understand them.
And then she retold it to me in the same English. And I understood her!

[Dioramartin]

Thanks Yuri,

OK I now understand the restrictions, really no different to anywhere else for public & particularly runaway child safety.

Nice story about the lost luggage . Indeed AI is transforming many aspects of life – my nephew recently posed a dilemma he was facing to three separate AI programs and he sent me the results. I was amazed at the complexity of language they used to suggest solutions…which to my amusement (and his) did not exactly agree with each other. Anyway, I think you’re being too modest, because I remember a conversation we had several years ago (before AI, I’m fairly sure) and your unassisted English was excellent – in writing anyway, yes I understand it’s a much bigger challenge to have a verbal conversation.