About 40 military vehicles, among them T-37 and T-60 tanks designed in 1937 and 1939, will take part in the historical parade on Moscow’s Red Square on November 7, ITAR-TASS reports. Servicemen riding horse-drawn machinegun platforms will be wearing uniforms of the 1940s, and some units will be wearing winter camouflage uniforms and weaponry of the same years.

In all, the parade will have about 5,500 participants, and its viewers will include WW2 veterans who marched to the frontline from the Red Square parade of November 7, 1941. Only 67 participants of that parade live in Moscow now.

It took two months to prepare the historical parade. Two rehearsals were held on Khodynskoye Field, and the dress rehearsal took place on Red Square on November 3. The parade will start at 10:00 a.m. The event originated 14 years ago. WW2 veterans have been special guests for the past six years.

The parade of November 7, 1941, marked the 24th anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 1917. At the time the Nazi were only 70-100 kilometers away from Moscow. Servicemen of the Moscow military district, military school cadets and some other units of the Red Army took part in the parade and marched right to the frontline.

Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service