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Preschoolers Dressed as Paratroopers and Tank Crews March in Russian Kindergarten Parades
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Russian kindergartens across the country are staging mass "Victory parades" for preschoolers, who march in military uniforms with toy weapons and ride in strollers stylized as combat equipment, according to the Russian officials on May 7.
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The independent Russian Telegram outlet Mozhem Obyasnit documented dozens of such ceremonies organized in Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Dagestan, Tatarstan, Khakassia, the Jewish Autonomous Region, Komi, Kurgan, Samara, Tambov, the Rostov region, and Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Local authorities and educational organizations also invited participants of Russia's war against Ukraine to attend, with veterans appearing as guests at multiple events.
At the local kindergarten in Dagestan's Kayakentsky district, children were dressed as paratroopers, pilots, and tank crews, fitted with airborne berets, combat boots, and body armor, and marched while carrying toy weapons.
In Bashkortostan's Priyutovo settlement, parents pushed toddlers in strollers and toy cars decorated as military vehicles, and the event closed with children eating buckwheat and stew from a "field kitchen."
A kindergarten in Birobidzhan staged its parade as part of a moral education program titled "Dobry Mir," after which preschoolers assembled care packages for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. In the city of Ukhta, 150 children were brought to the central square for a combined parade and "Immortal Regiment” procession.
A local Ukhta city portal, describing the scene, wrote that "many adults could not hold back tears" as teachers led groups of preschoolers behind flags representing different branches of the Russian armed forces.
As genuine Victory Day parades are canceled across dozens of Russian regions on security grounds, the Kremlin has also tightened access to the main May 9 ceremony in Moscow.
This year’s parade in the capital is set to proceed without military equipment for the first time since 2007, and Russian authorities have revoked accreditations previously issued to foreign journalists, barring them from covering the event despite earlier approval.
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