Azernews.Az

By Vusala Abbasova

Kazakhstan celebrated Fatherland Defender's Day on May 7 by holding a military parade in Astana main square to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory anniversary of World War II.

"The current parade is the most spectacular and large-scale going back years. It will be attended by a record number of military forces and military equipment," the Kazakhstan Defense Ministry reported. Around 5,000 army-men, from various ranks, from the Kazakh Armed Forces will expose 200 weapon units and equipment, 70 helicopters and planes. The army and the arms of the Great Patriotic War will be represented along with the modern weapons of Kazakh Armed Forces.

To commemorate history and remember the efforts of the armed forces in opposing Nazy Germany, tanks T-34 headed the historical part of the parade. In the parade, were also featured cannon ZIL-157 ZIS-2 and M-30 howitzers, the legendary BM-13 RS-30 "Katyusha", the famous machine gun "Maxim", RPD (machine gun Degtyarev), and PPSh (submachine gun Shpagin ).

The modern part of the parade was headed by T-72B tank, equipped with guided weapons. They were followed by vehicles tank support, "Solncepek", infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-82, D-30 howitzers, "ICCA" KamAZ cars, armored vehicles "Tiger", combat reconnaissance vehicles "Cobra" and other modern military equipment, which were all delivered to the Kazakh army in recent years.

A special place in the parade was given to the air show, as airplanes Su-25, Su-27, Su-30, MiG-29, MiG-31, MiG-27, AN-26, AN-72, Tu-134, Tu-154, C-295 (Airbase Military) took to the air as well as helicopters Mi-8, Mi-17, Mi-171, Mi-26, K-32 and EC-145 (Eurocopter).

In addition, the parade involved new fighter Su-30sm 4 ++ generation which for the first time in the entire history of the Kazakh Armed Forces joined the Air Force.

Military pilots demonstrated their skills by performing aerobatics maneuvers.

Aviators gave the audience something to look at when they drew in the sky a 70, to symbolize the anniversary of the great victory.

Honorary guests of the parade were 260 Great Patriotic War veterans from all regions of Kazakhstan.

Defender of the Fatherland Day has been celebrated in Kazakhstan annually on May 7 for almost 20 years - since 1992. It is a national holiday.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz