General of the Army Vladimir Bakin said over 8,000 personnel and 100 vehicles would be involved in the practice parade on Red Square on April 29, March 3, and March 5. The Victory Day parade will mark the end of Russia's participation in WWII.
"At the final stage of preparations for the Victory Day parade on Red Square there will be three dress rehearsals, two at night, and one in the daytime," he said.
According to earlier reports, sophisticated military hardware, including BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, T-90 tanks, Topol-M mobile missile launchers and Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers, will be showcased during the parade for the first time since the split up of the Soviet Union.
Bakin said the tracked vehicles to take part in the parade would be equipped with rubber cushioning to save the city's tarmac from destruction.
He also said that a training square similar in shape to Red Square had been built in Alabino (the Moscow Region) and all ground hardware had arrived there.
Bakin earlier said over four thousand fireworks will be let off during the celebrations.
The first Victory Parade was held on Red Square on June 24, 1945 on the order of the then-Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Stalin.
