Photo Gallery

1. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		2. Parade commander Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda reporting to President Viktor Yuschenko		3. Parade commander Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda and President Viktor Yuschenko
4. President Viktor Yuschenko		5. (left to right) Defense Minister Yurii Yekhanurov, President Viktor Yuschenko, Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda		6. Parade commander Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda
7. Parade commander Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda reporting to Defense Minister Yurii Yekhanurov		8. Defense Minister Yurii Yekhanurov and parade commander Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda taking the salute		9. Defense Minister Yurii Yekhanurov
10. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		11. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		12. A military orchestra at the parade on the occasion of the Independence Day
13. Spectators at the military parade on the Independence Day		14. Spectators at the military parade on the Independence Day		15. Spectators at the military parade on the Independence Day
16. Spectators at the military parade on the Independence Day		17. Spectators at the military parade on the Independence Day		18. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day
19. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		20. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		21. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day
22. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		23. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day		24. Military parade on the occasion of the Independence Day
25. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day		26. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day		27. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day
28. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day		29. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day		30. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day
31. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day		32. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day		33. Military machinery at the parade on the Independence Day
34. Military helicopters at the parade on the Independence Day		35. Military helicopters at the parade on the Independence Day		36. Military aircrafts at the parade on the Independence Day
37. Military aircrafts at the parade on the Independence Day		38. Military aircrafts at the parade on the Independence Day		39. Military aircrafts at the parade on the Independence Day
40. Military aircrafts at the parade on the Independence Day		41. Military aircrafts at the parade on the Independence Day

A military parade engaging over 3,000 soldiers and 144 military machines has been held at Khreschatyk in Kyiv on the occasion of the Independence Day.

The celebration of the Independence Day began at 10 a.m. with raising the national flag on the Independence Square.

Then Defense Minister Yurii Yekhanurov drove an open car Chaika along the lines of soldiers at Khreschatyk and congratulated them on the holiday.

After that, Yu. Yekhanurov climbed to the rostrum, where the country's top officials were standing.

President Viktor Yuschenko congratulated the Ukrainian people on the seventeenth anniversary of the Independence Day.

Then the best servicemen from the Ukrainian Land Forces, Air Forces, and Navy paraded along Khreschatyk to the strains of march.

Apart from them, cadets from six military educational institutions of the Defense Ministry took part in the parade.

Besides them, eighteen orchestras of the Armed Forces participated in the parade.

After them military machinery drove along Khreschatyk.

In particular, one mechanized company on each of BTR-80, BMP-1 Squall and BMP-2, in all thirty machines, one tank company on T-64 BM Bulat (ten tanks), a squadron of an air defense missile system Wasp (six units), a separate air defense missile battalion Buk-M1 (six units), one missile battalion S-200V Vega and one S-300PS (each of six units) took part in the parade.

Besides, a parachute company on BMD-2 (ten units), one self-propelled howitzer battery on each of 2S1 Carnation, 2S3 Acacia, and 2S19 MSTA-S (eighteen units), a tugged howitzer battery 2A65 MSTA-B (six machines), an air cavalry company on ten Hummer cars and on a UAZ-469 were parading.

In addition, an antitank artillery battery MT-12 Rapier (six machines), a rocket battery 9K79 Point-U (six machines), batteries of volley fire rocket systems Grad (Hail), Uragan (Hurricane), and Smerch (Tornado) (each of six machines), a battery of gun and missile anti-aircraft system Tunguska (six units) took part in the parade.

An air convoy of eight helicopters and twenty-two planes flew above the central part of Kyiv, finishing the parade.

These were: Su-24MR Fencer-E reconnaissance aircraft, three Su-24M Fencer-M bomber aircrafts, six MiG-29 jet fighters, six Su-27 jet fighters, four Su-25 assault aircrafts, transport aircrafts Il-76 and AN-26, four Mi-8 and four Mi-24 helicopters.

Army Component Commander Ivan Svyda was running the parade.