Some 500 soldiers from the "Coalition of the Willing" backing Ukraine marched down Paris's Champs-Elysees on Tuesday in the annual Bastille Day parade, in a showcase of support for Kyiv and a symbolic flexing of European military muscle.
A huge French tricolour flag, hanging below the monumental Napoleon-era Arc du Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Elysées, rippled in the wind as a military band on horseback rode down the tree-lined avenue – followed by President Emmanuel Macron standing in an open military vehicle to kick off the parade.
Spectators wore hats and brandished small fans to fend off the heat, as a formation of air force planes roared overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke.
France marks 14 July as its national holiday in memory of the day Parisians stormed the Bastille prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy and sent King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette to the guillotine.
Today's military parade fell one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined around 25 leaders in Paris for a summit of the coalition of Western allies supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The allies announced an air-defence coalition, as Ukraine grapples with critical ammunition shortages and intensifying Russian strikes on its capital Kyiv and surrounding regions.
Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz were among around 30 leaders invited by Emmanuel Macron to watch Tuesday's parade – the French president's last before he leaves office in 2027.
It featured around 25 Ukrainian soldiers marching along the capital's most famous avenue.
'Historic parade'
The parade set a record in terms of number of troops, with the Paris military governor saying 7,600 troops were marching this year, compared with 5,810 last year.
The traditional fly-past brought together French and allied European aircraft, including French Mirage fighter jets, which Macron's office said would be flown with Ukrainian co-pilots currently training on the aircraft.
"It will be a historic parade because of this international dimension, which will be a strong signal that Europe is waking up and coming to terms with how dangerous the world has become," a French presidential adviser told reporters ahead of the event.
The Kremlin said it was closely monitoring Monday's Coalition of the Willing meeting, describing the countries taking part as "hostile".
In another sign of Europe's increasingly hard-edged stance on security, Macron said on Monday that the continent was facing its gravest threats in decades and must be prepared to bear the costs of defending its values and security.
"The message we're sending to the world is the following: yes, peace is our goal, yes, we cherish freedom and the rule of law, and yes, we stand ready to fight to defend them, even at the cost of blood if necessary," Macron said.
Heatwave impacts festivities
Raging forest fires and a red-alert heatwave are also shaking up this year's national holiday.
Firefighters are struggling to tame a wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris that has destroyed some 1,900 hectares, and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers its third heatwave this year.
Authorities in some regions – including the French capital – have banned fireworks, and cancelled the firefighters' balls traditionally held on 13 and 14 July.
The Eiffel Tower's fireworks and drone show was maintained, however, and held on Monday night.
It included a drone formation shaped like the Statue of Liberty – a gift from France to the United States that arrived in New York in 1885 to mark the US centennial, the end of the American Civil War and the friendship between the two countries.
(with newswires)
