MOSCOW — The armored personnel carriers led the way, groaning in the cold sunlight past the cafes and boutiques of Tverskaya Street and, finally, over the vast cobblestone stretches of Red Square. The tanks came after, machine guns pointed skyward. Then missiles, some of them with the capacity to carry nuclear warheads.
Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, smiled. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who hovered over Medvedev's shoulder on the reviewing stand, stared somberly. Russians cheered as bombers sliced the sky, low over the rooftops and church steeples.
The military parade that streamed through the historic heart of Moscow on Friday revived yet another iconic Soviet tradition: For the first time since the disintegration of the USSR, tanks and missiles rumbled over Red Square to commemorate the anniversary of the end of World War II.
The display of military hardware was intended as a show of muscle, a declaration of Russia's return to power after a tumultuous and humiliating tumble into post-Soviet disarray.
"A demonstration of our growing potential in the defense sphere," Putin called it this week. "We are able to protect our people, our citizens, our state, our wealth, which is not inconsiderable."
But the parade also was an inadvertent reminder of Russia's soft spots. Its military is still considered weak despite heavy spending and heady promises of reform. And the country is pushing forward into an uncertain political era -- and falling back on old Soviet symbols, drained of ideology but held aloft as talismans of a stronger, more straightforward era.
"People are nostalgic for Soviet times," said Anton Izmestyev, a 23-year-old advertising manager who had yanked a ball cap over sleepy eyes and wandered down to Tverskaya to see the tanks pass. "We are a new generation, and we missed the whole thing. We want to see the great military glory of Russia again."
Russians packed the side streets along the parade route on the national holiday. They brought their children, their beer and their cameras, and craned their necks excitedly for a glimpse of the weaponry as it rolled past.
Local newspapers printed spreads with photographs of the military vehicles, allowing spectators to follow along as the massive machines rumbled through. When the biggest missiles came into view, a roar went up from the crowd.
