The glory of the Soviet military lived again on Friday as 5,000 Russian cadets paraded on Red Square with old red communist flags to mark the 52nd anniversary of victory in World War II.

"A Victory Day military parade on Red Square is a symbol of Russian soldiers' loyalty to the tradition of the Great Patriotic War heroes," President Boris Yeltsin said in a short speech to troops, veterans and other invited guests."It is the sacred duty of the Russian army to preserve and augment these traditions," he said.

Many Russian veterans of the war that killed 27 million Soviet people wore their old uniforms, glimmering with medals that tinkled as they gathered on the parade review stand beside the Kremlin walls.

From the square, the sound of soldiers' heels knocking against the cobbled stones echoed as they paraded to the strains of a massive military band. Once assembled, soldiers in waves cried out "Hurrah," creating a cascade of sound ending around the coloured onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral.

Soldiers heading up marching units bore banners of Soviet revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin and the wartime slogan "For our Soviet Motherland."

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The shine of a successful parade gave the Russian military a rare upbeat moment at a time when poor funding and low morale make the nuclear-equipped force a shadow of its former self.

Young Russians are draft-dodging in huge numbers, and even officers are often paid months late.

In Vladivostok, the Pacific Fleet canceled a naval parade for the first time since 1945 because of lack of funding, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The rare Red Square parade revived a tradition that once embodied Soviet military power, but the Kremlin did not roll out the rockets and tanks that were once an integral part of such events.

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