(V-Day) Russian troops debut in China's V-Day parade

Russian troops made its debut Thursday on Tian'anmen Square for China's V-day parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

A total of 76 carbine-carrying soldiers from Russia's army, navy and air force goose-stepped across the square with a brisk clip-clop.

The Russians were the final phalanx among nearly 1,000 troops from 17 foreign countries who participated in China's massive military parade.

The soliders were selected from Russia's 154th Preobrazhensy Commandant's regiment. Alexander Kurov, head of the Russian parade troops to China, said the servicemen of the regiment took part in all military parades held in Moscow.

The regiment was formed in December 1979, including an honor guard company. But history of the company can be traced back to 1944 and it has been expanded into a battalion afterwards, according to Kurov.

"To be one of the honor guards is a demanding job. You might be dismissed if you fail to walk with picture-perfect movements," said 28-year-old Dmitry Bobrov, commander of the Russian team.

The Russian troops have started training in Beijing since August 22 to adapt to China' s V-Day parade.

"The marching pace in Russia is 120 steps per minute, quicker than China's 112 steps," said Bobrov, who has participated in Russian parades nine times. "So our soldiers were under training for six hours a day in Beijing before the parade."

Twenty-year-old Dmitry Budreika, who bore the flag of Russian Army, told Xinhua, "The flag weighs 3.5 kilograms. To strengthen my muscle, I carry a flag six or seven times heavier than that in training."

On May 9, troops from the regiment took the lead in Russia's military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, Russia' s term for World War II.

A total of 102 Chinese troops also marched past the Red Square. It was Chinese soldiers' first time to participate in Russia's V-Day parade. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the parade.

Both Russia and China were main battlefields during the war, and wartime casualties of the two countries ranked top and second respectively.

China and Russia also worked together to fight Japanese aggressors and the fascist forces during the war.

Sergeant Anton Mikhailov, who participated in Thursday's parade, said, "I tell myself repeatedly. The parade is like a real battle. In the battlefield, you must go ahead." Endit