Russian soldier at Red Square at paratroopers celebration 6th October 2007

2 Responses to “Russian soldier at Red Square at paratroopers celebration”

1
mc:
Great composition!!! Really nice shot!
[Reply]
October 8th, 2007 at 04:19
2
ferenc ecseki:
I wonder if he is thinking of a loved one … the mandatory Russian army service is less than no fun
[Reply]
November 25th, 2007 at 06:20

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DateTime2007:08:02 09:34:12
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The story behind "Russian soldier at Red Square at paratroopers celebration"

We had no clue what we walked into at Red Square on August 2nd, but there were a lot of men with blue berets and blue-white Telnyashka shirts.

It soon turned out to be the celebration day of the Russian paratroopers, who still celebrate the holiday they had during Soviet Regime. It was only noon, but withing minutes we were given a large cup of wine in order to celebrate with a very muscular guy, so ‘нет’ was not accepted as an answer. It was a bit strange to be singing along with these guys at the political and military center of the Russian army; people that we always had to consider as the big bad guys, but also people that have done so many dubious things in Kosovo, Chechnya amongst others.

There was a big stage where some general did speeches and a military band played songs that all paratroopers knew. This soldier was guarding the stage from too enthusiastic blue berets, but his mind seemed to be far, far away..

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