The Great Victory Parade was held in Smolensk Hero-City

Smolensk region together with the country is celebrating the 72nd anniversary of the Great Victory. Thousands of Smolensk residents and city guests, veterans and participants of the Great Patriotic War gathered in Lenin Square, where the Parade of the Smolensk Territorial Garrison Troops was held. Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy greeted the Smolensk people with the words of congratulation.

The honor to open the Victory Parade was given to the soldiers of the Guard of Honor who solemnly carried a replica of the Victory Banner and the National Flag of the Russian Federation onto the main square of the city.

The commander of the parade was Colonel Igor Stakhovich, the Deputy Head on personnel of the Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky Military Academy of the Armed Air Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The parade was received by Colonel Boris Novikov, the Deputy Head of the Smolensk Territorial Garrison, the Deputy Head of the Military Academy, the Chevalier of the Military Merit Order and the medal of the Order for Service to the Homeland.

More than 1,300 people, including the Military Academy officers and cadets, servicemen of the 20th separate railway brigade, representatives of the General Directorate of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (GD EMERCOM), the Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (DFPS), and the Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (DMIA) in Smolensk region, the National Guard, cadets and students of the Future Officers School, took part in the ceremonial march in Lenin Square. For the first time the parade was attended by the representatives of the military-patriotic movement "Yunarmia".

After the march, military equipment appeared in the square. There were armored vehicles BTR-80, anti-aircraft missile systems "Osa-AKM", trucks "KAMAZ" with quick-firing cannons ZU-23 and portable missile systems "Igla" in the column. The salute division presented at the parade towed ZiS-3 guns of the Great Patriotic War time.

The spectators greeted the column of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, workers of the rear, veterans of military operations, the Armed Forces, and soldiers-internationalists with applauses. Those veterans of the Great Patriotic War who were unable to walk in the column alongside their comrades could observe the parade from the special spectator seats traditionally provided.

After the parade, the column of the "Immortal Regiment" passed over the central streets of Smolensk.

"Immortal Regiment" is a civil initiative aimed at preserving in every family the memory of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, those who fought for the freedom of the Homeland. For the first time the action was held on May 9, 2012 in Tomsk, and since 2013, it has already acquired the status of the All-Russian.

This year, according to preliminary data, more than 25 thousand of Smolensk residents decided to stand under the banner of the "Immortal Regiment".

For the third time, Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy participated in the march. The Head of the region walked in the column of the "Immortal Regiment" with a portrait of his great-uncle - Alexey Yakovlevich Anurov, who did not return from the war.

The action, aimed at preserving the memory of those terrible events, took place not only in Smolensk, but also in the cities of military glory Vyazma and Yelnya, the home of the Soviet Guard, as well as in all districts of the region.