Vietnamese soldiers practice to prepare for the parade at Red Square.

Armed forces marching. (Photo: Sy Tuyen/VNA)

Pursuant to Directive No. 78/CT-BQP dated April 9, 2025 of the Ministry of National Defense on organizing the Vietnam People's Army to participate in the parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War in the Russian Federation (May 9, 1945 - May 9, 2025), 68 soldiers of the Army Officer School 1 will represent the Vietnam People's Army to participate in the parade at Red Square in Moscow, Russia.

Showing regularity, unity, and power

Major General, Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Van Thanh, Vice Principal of Army Officer School 1, said that implementing the direction of the Minister of National Defense, over the past few days, the school has organized forces and actively trained and practiced for the participating forces, aiming to improve the qualifications, command movements, and coordination ability of the forces participating in the parade.

Thereby, demonstrating the discipline, unity and strength of the Vietnam People's Army as well as the desire to build a peaceful , friendly, cooperative and mutually developing relationship with international friends.

According to Major General Nguyen Van Thanh, according to the plan, the school organized training for the forces participating in the parade on the contents of individual and block formation regulations, ensuring correctness, uniformity, beauty, unity, discipline, and strength. The training was carried out step by step: Basic training and practice for each person, each row; comprehensive practice by block and general rehearsal, and approval.

The soldiers participating in the parade are between 19 and 30 years old, and 1m80 or taller. These are officers, lecturers, and students with well-proportioned bodies, who can perform command movements quickly, strongly, and accurately.

Honored to be assigned this special mission

Taking on the role of Block Leader, Lieutenant Tran Xuan Bach, lecturer of the Sports Faculty (Army Officer School 1) said that the whole block started practicing from March 22 this year with a training intensity of 9 hours per day; 4.5 hours in the morning, 2.5 hours in the afternoon and 2 hours in the evening.

The soldiers' training takes place in hot, rainy and windy conditions, every day of the week, with no days off.

"On rainy days, we practiced right on the porch to be on time for the celebration. One of the difficulties of this mission is that the pace of the parade in Russia is faster than in Vietnam, while the parade music in Vietnam corresponds to 104 to 106 steps/minute, the parade music in Russia corresponds to 120 to 125 steps/minute," Lieutenant Tran Xuan Bach shared.

Although the training time in Vietnam is not long, the whole group is determined to improve their techniques to meet the requirements of the mission. During the training process, officers and soldiers face many difficulties such as having to quickly adapt to Russian music to walk in time with the music; the gaiters of the honor guard are heavy and difficult to walk, causing many members to have heel abrasions or ankle pain, requiring additional padding on the heels to practice, but many soldiers still try to practice overtime.

Expressing his honor at being entrusted with the task by the Party, State and Army, Bloc Leader Tran Xuan Bach affirmed that promoting the tradition of the Vietnam People's Army, the entire bloc always determined to practice seriously, responsibly, try hard and strive to excellently complete the assigned tasks, meeting the expectations of leaders at all levels.

Sharing the same pride, Sergeant Nguyen Huu Quan (Battalion 7, Army Officer School 1) - one of the students selected to carry out the shared mission, the members of the block all determined that this is not only a personal mission but also a national responsibility, a great honor that not everyone can have.

During the training process, the entire block always received regular attention, close inspection and professional guidance from the leaders of the General Staff and school commanders.

"The general feeling is excitement, pride, but also determination. The whole bloc is determined to best represent the image of Uncle Ho's regular, elite, and gradually modernized soldiers, contributing to affirming the prestige and position of the Vietnam People's Army in the international arena," said Senior Sergeant Nguyen Huu Quan.

Maintain effective bilateral defense cooperation mechanisms

To celebrate and remember the heroic victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, military parades are often held in the capital Moscow as well as in major cities where the headquarters of the Russian armed forces are located.

The first Victory Day parade on Red Square took place on June 24, 1945. Since then, the parade has been held on even-numbered anniversaries (1965, 1985, 1990), on May 9, the day Nazi Germany signed the unconditional surrender to Allied representatives in Berlin.

Then, since 1995, the Victory Day Parade became an annual event.

Traditionally, the parade forces are divided into regiments, battalions and companies, according to types and services, followed by military convoys, tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled vehicles, new and modern weapons.

In December 2024, during a meeting with General Phan Van Giang, Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense of Vietnam in Hanoi on the occasion of the 7th Defense Strategy Dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, on behalf of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, respectfully invited General Phan Van Giang and the military to attend the parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War in the Russian Federation.

General Phan Van Giang affirmed that the people and the Vietnam People's Army always remember and appreciate the great support and assistance that the Russian Federation has given to Vietnam in the struggle for national independence and reunification as well as in the cause of building and defending the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland in the future.

On December 22, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defense sent a delegation to attend the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of the Vietnam People's Army, the 35th Anniversary of National Defense Day and the Vietnam International Defense Exhibition 2024; as well as sent leading Russian defense enterprises to attend and display products at the exhibition, thereby contributing to the overall success of the exhibition.

At the ceremony, Vietnam also welcomed a delegation of Russian veterans who had helped Vietnam to attend.

As a pillar field playing an important role in the overall traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, bilateral defense cooperation has achieved many good results in recent times, especially in the fields of delegation exchanges at all levels; effectively maintaining existing cooperation mechanisms; promoting personnel training; cooperation between armies, services and units of the two countries' Defense Ministries; scientific research cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Center; cooperation in news agencies, military television, military history, military museums; cooperation in multilateral activities organized by each country's Defense Ministry and coordination at international multilateral mechanisms and forums on defense./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/quan-nhan-viet-nam-luyen-tap-san-sang-tham-gia-duyet-binh-tai-quang-truong-do-post1033738.vnp