Putin shows his teeth to the world in Moscow's Red Square

Russia wants to remain a major world power and as such wants to be respected on the global stage. President Vladimir Putin, the country's governing authorities and even Russian citizens are aware of the unstoppable rise of neighbouring China... but all are adamant that they aspire to once again become the military superpower that the Soviet Union was in the past.

The greatest example of its military capabilities is the parade held every May 9 in Moscow's Red Square to mark Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the date on which Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed the 1945 Act of Unconditional Surrender of the German Armed Forces to the Allies and officially ended the Second World War in Europe.

One of the biggest celebrations in Russia's festive calendar, the central event of Victory Day is a full-scale military parade, where the Kremlin traditionally displays for the first time the latest in its arsenal of weapons, with thousands of soldiers and hundreds of its most modern tanks, combat vehicles, missiles and aircraft.

May Day 2021 marked the 76th anniversaAcompañado por veteranos de la Gran Guerra Patriótica, el presidente Putin ha recalcado que Rusia defiende constantemente el derecho internacional sin dejar de proteger nuestros intereses nacionales y la seguridad de nuestro pueblory of Victory Day, which was presided over by Vladimir Putin, who was accompanied as a special guest by the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, who has ruled the Central Asian country since 1994. 

In his address to some 12,000 soldiers, the vast majority of whom were in 37 formations that marched on foot, Putin recalled that this is a holiday that "has always been and will always remain a sacred day for Russia", because "we are blood relatives of those who defeated, crushed and destroyed National Socialism and we are descended from the generation of the victors".

The president of the world's largest nation stressed that Russia "constantly upholds international law, while protecting our national interests and the security of our people". As a testament to his words, 37 combat units, military academies for officers and cadets, as well as troops from the Ministry of Emergencies, the National Guard and border guard units of the Russian Federal Security Service paraded in closed formation in front of the presidential rostrum.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, a total of 190 items of military equipment were on display, ranging from individual and collective weapons - assault rifles, precision rifles and machine guns - to short- and medium-range mobile missile systems. Of course, mechanised tanks and combat vehicles, wheeled vehicles and even the robotic Uran-9, weighing more than 10 tonnes, with missiles and anti-aircraft weapons.  

These include the fearsome and originally designed 55-tonne T-14 Armata new-generation battle tank, designed to minimise its radar and thermal silhouette. First unveiled in 2015 when it was still under development, it is armed with a 125-millimetre 2A82-1M smoothbore, rapid-fire, self-loading, missile-capable gun.

The T-14 is wrapped with a highly protective Relikt, a modular, reactive armour that neutralises enemy projectiles within 1 metre of impact, according to Russian sources. It can be fitted with the more powerful 152-millimetre 2A83 cannon, the serial production of which is believed to have begun this year.

Its complement is the Kurganets-25 tracked infantry fighting vehicle, with anti-tank missiles and a new 57-millimetre gun. At the same time, the 4x4 Typhoon was shown for the first time in an air defence version. Also on display was the modernised T-90 Proryv-3 tank, of which more than two thousand have been produced since the end of the last century. Weighing 50 tonnes and with the powerful 2A82-1M gun of the T-14 Armata, it is also covered with Relikt.

Aware of the threat posed by air power, Russia is putting a great deal of effort into developing air defence systems. Among the most advanced short-range systems was the Pantsir-S - designated by NATO as the SA-22 "Greyhound" - which combines missiles and 30-millimetre anti-aircraft guns for medium- and short-range defence on a single platform.

The Buk-M3 Viking tracked surface-to-air multiple missile launcher - NATO code SA-11 "Gadfly" - was unveiled in 2020 in its export version. With 16 firing ports, its range has been extended to 130 kilometres. Another such system is the Tor-M2 short-range surface-to-air missile system, NATO code SA-15 "Gauntlet", designed to destroy aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Also on display was the better-known 40-kilometre-range S-400 Triumf anti-missile system, acquired in 2019 by Erdogan's Turkey and which has led to a disagreement with the Atlantic Alliance. Also absent from the Red Square event was the powerful RS-24 Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile system on wheels (8 pairs) - NATO code SS-27 - with an estimated range of 12,800 kilometres and the capacity to be armed with multiple nuclear warheads.

Nor the more modern version of the 8x8 9K720 Iskander-M mobile missile launcher - NATO code SS-26 Stone - with a warhead that can be nuclear or conventional and a range of 400-500 kilometres.  The TOS-1A rocket launcher is an important saturation artillery weapon. Mounted on a T-72 tank chassis, it has 30 launch tubes with a calibre of 220 millimetres. 

The military parade was not to be missed. Seventy-six aircraft and helicopters of all types took part, including the Kamov Ka-52 and Mil Mi-28 combat and assault aircraft. The low-flying Sukhoi Su-35S strategic bombers and the huge Tu-160, this time armed with long-range missiles, were on display. And Su-30M, Su-34, Su-24M and Mikoyan MiG-29S and MiG-31K fighters and interceptors, the latter fitted to carry the new hypersonic Kinzhal missile.

The military parade in Moscow's Red Square is not the only one held to commemorate the victory over Germany. Military celebrations are held in nearly 400 towns across the vast territory of the country. Military parades are held at the heads of the 19 military land and naval districts and in large towns, including those declared by Stalin to be "heroic cities" for their resistance to Axis troops: Volgograd, Kerch, Murmansk, Novorossiysk, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Smolensk and Tula.