Thousands of Russian soldiers march in Moscow on Wednesday as President Vladimir Putin overcomes the fear of the virus to host World War II before an important vote on his regime.
A military demonstration in Red Square has been scheduled for 9 years since the Soviet victory in World War II, but after the Kremlin burned coronavirus cases, it deferred to veteran requests.
Putin has eased the lockdown measures and is anxious to get out of the outbreak that has devastated his country and led to the event.
With more than 8,000 deaths and 580,000 COVID-19 infections, Russia has the third-largest number of infections after the United States and Brazil.
The parade ends with the anniversary of the first post-war parade at Red Square, in which Soviet troops left Nazi vows before the tomb of Lenin on June 24, 1945.
This allows Putin to keep his border clock at zero from 2000 and remain in the Kremlin until 2036, exactly one week before the national vote on the constitutional amendments.
This is the first epidemic of Putin's public appearance since attending a public flag hoisting ceremony on June 12.
The 67-year-old will survey the appearance of a modern army of more than 13,000 soldiers, including Toshka flame-throwers, T-90M tanks, and more than 20 objects from the surface of the Book-M3. Time. Air Missile System
Vintage vehicles such as Workhorse T-34 tanks are also on display, and some soldiers wear World War II uniforms.
Putin, whose two-year-old brother died after the Nazis invaded Leningrad, sought to link his regime with the most distinctive feature of the Soviet era: the victory of the war.
Prior to the parade, he shouted to the West for "insulting Russia," playing the role of the USSR in winning the war.
Despite Putin's preparations for the parade, some large-scale public events in Moscow are still officially banned due to some fear of infection risk.
Soldiers from 13 countries, including China and India, will parade the event and more than 200 military vehicles will be on the central highways.
- 'Historical Truth' -
Despite incidents in cities including St. Petersburg and Volgograd, more than a dozen Russian cities and regions have decided not to march on the same day, citing the dangers of the virus.
During the presentation, Moscow Mayor Sergei Soblin and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested to the public that they should be seen on television, not in person.
"Why the hell are you putting yourself in if you don't recommend going?" Top opposition politician Alexei Navalny asked on a live blog.
Army sources told AFP that soldiers were wearing masks and rubber gloves during the rehearsal but did not.
The Ministry of Defense said that soldiers with antibodies to the virus were given priority.
Putin's spokesman Peskov said the legends sitting in the stands after the incident were in the womb.
International presidents include French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese envoy Xi Jinping, who was initially set to attend but were canceled.
However, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is expected to have Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng.
Putin was angry at some people for noticing the parade and constitutional votes and was carefully protected from the virus.
After the parade, the opposition voted for him to benefit directly from the patriotic mood.
"Why should this artificial, duplicate vote have to do with victory marks and tinsel marks?"
The Moscow billboard promises to vote for the Russians with the slogan of a little girl in World War II: "We will preserve the memory of our ancestors."
One of the constitutional amendments proposed by Putin is to honor war victims and uphold “historical truth”.
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