‘Are we going to fire?’ 95yo WWII veteran tankman who helped defeat Nazis joins Victory Day parade rehearsal (VIDEO)
Nikolay Borisov, who fought the Germans in World War II and took part in the iconic victory parade in Red Square in 1945, agreed without hesitation when offered another chance to get into a tank, despite being 95 years old.
“Hello, sons! We’re going on the attack now? Are we going to fire?” Borisov jokingly asked the much younger crew of the modern T-72B3 main battle tank, in which he occupied the commander’s post.
Being in charge of a 46-ton military vehicle after such a long break came naturally to the veteran. “There’s no anxiety. The body feels the armor,” he explained with laughter in a video published by the Defense Ministry.
His comeback was made possible after Borisov received an invitation to the rehearsal of the Victory Day parade in his home town of Voronezh in central Russia. Events commemorating 75 years since the defeat of the Nazis were rescheduled this year, with the date changing from May 9 to June 24 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Borisov was recruited to the Red Army in 1942 and entered battle the following year after studying to become a tank commander. He was injured twice, but always returned to the battlefield from hospital. He was awarded several medals for his feats, and ended the war as a commander of a whole tank company, comprised of dozens of machines.
He remained in the armored troops after WWII and dedicated a total of 40 years of his life to military service. Borisov retired as colonel, and has participated in as many as 15 Victory Day parades, including the original one in 1945.
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