Parade in Laos features Russian-made tanks T-72- Russian Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian-made tanks T-72 and armored vehicles BRDM-2M included in the inventories of the Lao army took part in the parade on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The military parade on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Lao People's Armed Forces featured Russian military equipment put into service by the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The weapons shown during the parade include upgraded tanks T-72 and armored vehicles BRDM-2M," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement received by Interfax.
The tanks have been delivered to Laos at the request of the president of the Lao People's Democratic Republic as part of military-technical aid and under the agreements achieved during the visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Laos in January of 2018, the ministry said.
"In addition, the Russian Defense Ministry has opened its representative office in the Lao capital Vientiane in implementation of a Lao-Russian intergovernmental agreement," it said.
The operation of the Russian representative office will help expand military and military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Vientiane in areas such as training Lao soldiers in military schools subordinate to the Russian Defense Ministry, organizing trips of Russian military experts as consultants to assist Laos in building its armed forces and in using Russian-made weapons and military equipment, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
According to earlier reports citing the Russian Defense Ministry's information department, Laos has received four Yakovlev Yak-130 aircraft from Russia under a contract signed in 2017.