Russians told to watch parade on TV

The Kremlin has recommended that Russians watch the Red Square Victory Day parade on television on June 24 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said people in Moscow will be able to enjoy the "spectacular show of the Victory Day parade on Red Square by watching it on TV as a large team of professionals will broadcast it, using the most advanced technologies".

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin issued a statement earlier urging people not to flock to the capital's center on June 24.

"Of course, we recommend taking advantage of this opportunity to see the parade in all its nuances and in all its components, be it the airborne part or the march of military units or the passage of military hardware," Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delayed the annual Victory Day parade from May 9－when military units, tanks and strategic missile carriers usually roll through Red Square, while fighter jets fly overhead－to June 24 due to the coronavirus.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, parade squadrons of 19 states had been invited to take part in the Victory Day parade.

On Saturday, China's domestically developed Y-20 large transport aircraft landed at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, for the first time, carrying 105 People's Liberation Army honor guard members to participate in the parade.

Strong support

Liu Wendou, an expert of Russian studies at the think tank Grandview Institution, said that China's sending of PLA troops to take part in the parade amid the epidemic shows its strong support for Russia.

The PLA troops are also fully prepared to meet possible epidemic challenges, as all PLA personnel wore face masks, gloves and goggles upon their arrival in Moscow and took COVID-19 nucleic acid tests before going through customs according to procedures, reports said.

Troops from Azerbaijan, Serbia and other participating countries also arrived in Moscow.

All the foreign military participants and guests will be screened and tested for the virus after arriving in Russia, said Dmitry Trishkin, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Military Medical Directorate.

Before traveling to Russia, foreign delegations were quarantined for two weeks and provided documents showing negative coronavirus tests, Trishkin added.

Although the Red Square parade will be held as scheduled, some major cities in Russia will postpone their Victory Day parades again over the virus fears.

Authorities in the Belgorod and Oryol regions, southwest of Moscow, have delayed their parades until July 12 and Aug 5, respectively. And the neighboring Kursk region timed its parade to coincide with the end of the Battle of Kursk on Aug 23.

The government of the southern Russian city of Pyatigorsk on Monday said that it had canceled its parade due to the unfavorable situation with COVID-19.