Tiraspol, 9 May. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Pridnestrovie is marking the 71st anniversary of the Soviet people's Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Today, at 9:00 sharp, a military parade started at Suvorov Square.
The defence minister, Major General Oleg Gomenyuk, took the salute at the parade commanded by the chief of the General Staff, Colonel Ruslan Paulesko. They made a traditional inspection of parade details and congratulated parade participants on the 71st anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Veterans of the Great Patriotic War and those who served on the home front, approaching the day of victory, were among honourable guests at the parade. It was them who had fought the enemy on the front line, in partisan detachments and underground organisations, felt the agony of retreat and the thrill of victory, buried their friends, dragged the wounded from battlefields, raised crops, made shells, tanks and planes.
Servicemen of the Guard Honour Company brought in the legendary Banner of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the national flags of Russia and Pridnestrovie to the central square to the tune of composer Alexandrov's song Holy War.
The honour of bringing in the Victory Banner and national flags was granted to the company's best soldiers — Senior Lieutenant Kulikov, Lieutenant Cherniy and Private Volchkov.
It is servicemen of the Guard Honour Company that opened the military parade at the country's main square.
The famous T-34 tank, the exact copy of which has driven through Tiraspol's central square today, wrote numerous glorious pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War. This vehicle terrified the enemy. It was superior in many respects to greatly praised Nazi Tigers not only due to its performance characteristics, but also because of the courage of its crews. They were inspired by a great desire to defeat the enemy and justify the hopes and aspirations of those who were making T-34's and collecting money for their construction.
In 1944, a column of T-34's, built at the expanse of the funds collected by countrymen, was taken under command by a Tiraspol resident, a Hero of the Soviet Union, General Lietenant Bochkovsky. The sign on the armour of each tank read «From Moldavian workers». On 9 May 2016 the Victory Banner was waiving over the legendary armoured vehicle.
A parade detail of the special task unit of the PMR's Armed Forces paraded along the central square. Such units took part in the Moscow counter-offensive operation, Vyazma airborne operation and in the forced crossing of the Dnieper in 1943.
Then marched cadets of A. Lebed Military Institute of the Defence Ministry. This institution trains specialists for all law enforcement agencies of Pridnestrovie. Their detail included grandsons and great-grandsons of war veterans. A grandfather of Cadet Stupak, who was marching in the banner group, had liberated Moldova and reached Berlin. Great-grandfathers of cadets Gutsu, Kaftanaty, Zubov and Semenov also fought in the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.
Parade details of the special mobile unit of the Interior Ministry and the border detachment of the Committee for State Security. The combat banner was entrusted to Major Gashitsky. His great grandfather, a full St George Cross cavalier, participated in WWI and WWII.
The best units of Russia's OGRF also solemnly paraded through the square. They fulfil with dignity their military duties. The detail is led by Captain Yeliseyev, a second-generation officer and an excellent specialist. The combat banner of OGRF was entrusted to Major Sergey Gubarev, the chief of the battalion staff. Successors of glorious traditions of Russian warriors, descendants of the great generation of winners marched in the OGRF detail.
Servicemen of Pridnestrovie's Guard Honour Company also passed along the capital's central square.
Parade details of the mechanised column also took part in the military parade. It included 36 pieces of military hardware and weaponry. Tiraspol residents could see a column of Russia's armoured personnel carriers, multiple rocket launchers, armoured vehicles.
This type of military hardware is designed for transporting and supporting personnel, including when weapons of mass destruction are used. Thanks to these equipment, skilled and experiences peacekeepers are capable of fulfilling their tasks.
In the rear of the mechanised column went Ural lorries. They carried mounted anti-tank grenade launchers and Utes machine-guns. The SPG-9 grenade launcher is designed to combat tanks, armoured self-propelled guns and other armoured vehicles. The Utes machine-gun is designed to hit light-armoured ground targets, masses of vehicles and infantry, as well as low-flying targets.
The Guard Honour Company demonstated parade ground exercises. The company's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Sheremeta, is a cavalier of a «For service in battle» medal. One of his grandfathers died near Koenigsberg in 1944, and the other reached Berlin.
Following a good tradition, the commander-in-chief, President Yevgeny Shevchuk, thanked commanders of military units for service and excellent parade performance.
