In response to requests by Western journalists the Pentagon officials said that they were unconcerned by Russia's plans to parade military equipment on the Red Square on May 9 for the Victory Day parade in order to make a show of strength reminiscent of the Soviet times.
The Kremlin has announced that "new weaponry" will be taking part in the parade, while the Pentagon is skeptical about these statements.
"If they wish to take out their old equipment and take it for a spin, and check it out, they're more than welcome to do so," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
We would also like to remind our readers that Putin, the one about to leave the Kremlin, ordered to hold a parade on May 9 involving heavy military equipment, as it used to be back during the Soviet times. Such parades have not featured any heavy weaponry since 1990, the year before the Soviet Union's collapse. The nearest future will tell whether the parade will be a precursor of the upcoming collapse of Russia or not.
Still, so far Moscow is threatening to frighten the world with its "new weaponries adopted by the troops over the last decade".
The West has been ironic about Putin's attempts to use the parade to make Russia look like a strong and influential superpower that induces fear the way the USSR use to in its time.
Reuters reports that the decision to resume long-distance flights by strategic bombers with missile carriers should be viewed as one of the same kind. Western experts, however, point out that outdated and slow-moving obsolete Russian warplanes will make an easy target for modern air-defense systems and cannot be of any strategic interest.
Kavkaz Center
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