Fire in the hole! WATCH Russian gunners hone their pyrotechnic skills ahead of Victory Day night shows

With Victory Day parades suspended due to Covid-19, fireworks crews will be among the few service members allowed to show off their military prowess on May 9. A rare video shows them testing new gear.

Fireworks big and small will burst over Russian cities on the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, meaning that artillerists across the country have mere days to polish their skills. One such crew – stationed in the Far East – received a brand-new fireworks launcher which they immediately put to the test.

While the launcher itself looks a bit old-fashioned, with several dozen mortars mounted atop a KAMAZ truck, the system itself is not – it features a remote control among other safety measures.

A remote control allows for selecting fireworks modes © Russian Ministry of Defense

Gunners are seen putting the wires together and carefully loading pyrotechnic charges into the mortars. In a matter of seconds, the shells are fired into the air, exploding into bright, fiery flowers.

Apart from the fireworks, the Victory Day celebrations will involve flyovers for major cities, with the one in Moscow expected to be the most spectacular.

Airmen have already been seen on film rehearsing the show over the Russian capital – with 70 warplanes, among them strategic bombers, transport aircraft, tactical fighters, and secretive fifth-generation Su-57 jets traversing the skies this week.

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