Vadimir Putin spending £5m in keeping rain away from V-Day Parade

9^th May is an important day for Russia – it is Victory Day marking capitulation of  Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the part of the Second World War, following the signing of the surrender document in May 1945.  The Soviet government announced the victory early on 9^th  May after the signing ceremony in Berlin.  In the former Soviet Union this festival was celebrated to commemorate the Red Army's victory over the Nazi forces.  In communist East Germany, 8^th  May was officially known and celebrated as "Liberation Day" and was a public holiday between 1950 and 1966, and again on the 40^th  anniversary in 1985.

Tomorrow, it is being planned to be celebrated big – ‘the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade’ to take place in Red Square in Moscow, commemorating the 70^th  anniversary of the capitulation.  The annual parade marks the Allied victory in the Second World War at the Eastern Front,   President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will also deliver his twelfth holiday address to the nation on this day, right after the parade inspection to be presided by Minister of Defense General of the Army Sergey Shoigu. Being a landmark jubilee parade honouring the 70th anniversary, this year's parade is expected to be one of the biggest and largest to be held in Russian history. Alongside Presidents of Serbia, Vietnam, China, North Korea, Egypt, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee is also expected to attend.  In all, 27 international leaders are expected to be in attendance this year, including heads of UNESCO and the Council of Europe.

Russia’s legendary firearms producer Kalashnikov will for the first time introduce the modernized AK-74M at the parade.  Kalashnikov claims that the famous assault rifle will now be 50 percent more accurate. The new assault rifles will be equipped with modern optoelectronic and laser aiming devices, gun flashlights for low visibility and low noise shooting equipment, the Kalashnikov Concern said Tuesday. The rifle will also include a 40-mm grenade launcher and a bayonet.  The upgraded AK-74M will be 50 percent more accurate at a distance of up to 300 meters at any time of day and in various weather conditions, the company added.

...... the interesting news is that Vadimir Putin has spent  £5m on making sure it doesn't rain during  V-Day Parade.  Jets are  to spike clouds with chemical cocktail though it would mean that  villages 40 miles away will get deluged).  This act would guarantee  sunshine  during the annual parade. 

MailOnline reports that Vladimir Putin is preparing to play God and spike clouds with a chemical cocktail to prevent it raining on his vast Red Square military parade on Saturday. Reports say the Kremlin is ready to splash out £5million to use Soviet technology which should guarantee sunshine for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe - and Putin's 15th year as Russia's head of state. Ahead of the parade, a fleet of Russian air force planes are on standby from around 6am to fly from an airbase north of Moscow to spray special reactant chemical agents over any thick clouds, causing them to release their rainfall in downpours before reaching the capital.

Cloud spiking or seeding involves spraying clouds with a cocktail of silver iodide, liquid nitrogen and dry ice. The icy particles freeze water droplets so that they continue growing in size and eventually fall out of the cloud as snow which turns to rain before it reaches the ground.  As a result central Moscow should be bathed in sunshine, or at least dry, for the major commemoration of Victory Day - one of the most hallowed in the Russian calendar. However, hapless villages around 40 to 60 miles from the capital can expect to be deluged. 

Globally, it is now considered a mainstream tool and it has become a tradition in China to ‘seed’ clouds before public holidays to induce rain, disperse pollution and ensure clear blue skies. The 10 ageing Soviet-era Antonovs and Illuyshin planes are being prepared to use spray cannons to blast any lurking dark clouds with a cocktail of weather-changing chemicals to prevent a Red Square washout. A record 400million roubles has been allocated this year to seed the clouds using a system pioneered under Stalin. Military spokesman Colonel Vladimir Drik has told previously how the aircraft fly from Chkalovsky air base before beginning work at an altitude of 8,000 metres to 'correct' the adverse weather.  'For dispersion of clouds, the Air Force uses specially refurbished An-26 and An-12 transport planes supplied with reagents,' he explained.

At the end of the Soviet era, a former KGB official suggested the system could be marketed to Britain to prevent washouts at Wimbledon fortnight - and Test Match cricket. The proposal never got off the ground, but the Russians regularly use the cloud-spiking technique on big occasions. It was once used to ease torrential rain at an open air Michael Jackson concert in Moscow. The system does not always work: in 2012, the planes failed to clear the leaden skies for the Victory Day parade. The Russians deny criticism that the operation is harmful to the environment.

Despite being wartime allies with the USSR against Hitler, neither Britain not the US will be represented at head of government level.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

8^th May 2015.