European troops and warplanes join Paris Bastille Day parade in a show of unity for Ukraine

PARIS — Ukrainian fighter pilots and troops took pride of place in France’s national Bastille Day celebrations Tuesday as a massive parade showcased support for Ukraine and symbolically flexed European military muscle.

On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he hosted around 30 other leaders for an event that appeared aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was given an ovation from the assembled European leaders and his country’s troops got the biggest cheers of the day from crowds on the tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue. Zelensky and Macron shared repeated hugs at the end of the parade.

France’s biggest national holiday coincided with raging forest fires and a red-alert heat wave that forced the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls — and with a highly anticipated World Cup semifinal pitting the national soccer team against Spain.

Here’s what to know about Bastille Day this year.

It’s celebrated on July 14 because that’s the day Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and sent King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette to the guillotine.

The Bastille Day holiday is central to the French calendar and national identity. Presidents use it to vaunt France’s accomplishments, mayors across the country host village festivals, and families gather for holiday picnics.

The centerpiece is the Paris parade beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Elysees, which inspired Trump to stage his own parade last year.

A huge French tricolor flag hanging below the monumental arch rippled in the wind as a military band on horseback rode down the tree-lined avenue followed by 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.

Zelensky joined Macron along with some 30 other heads of state or government in the special viewing area for the parade.

Ukrainian troops marched along the cobblestoned avenue, and Ukrainian co-pilots trained in France were on board two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.

“I feel very proud for the fact that they’re here and for the fact that we’re marching alongside of them and I think it as well it will create better ties with them and NATO and to be a part of that history,” 21-year-old U.K. soldier Lance Cpl. Patrick Risso told the Associated Press, speaking of the Ukrainian involvement.

On the ground, the parade opened with around 500 troops from the ″coalition of the willing″ grouping of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s postwar security. Many served in NATO operations, and NATO’s chief was also in attendance.

Macron said Monday night that it’s a ″great honor″ to welcome to the parade ″all the partners in the coalition of the willing and our Ukrainian friends who will march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity.″

The foreign fighters in combat fatigues and dress uniforms marched with their national flags, in a break with tradition.

In the skies, aircraft from Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Spain, and Italy took part.

The parade set a record in terms of number of troops: The Paris military governor said 7,600 troops were marching this year, compared with 5,810 in 2025. Thousands of soldiers started taking up positions early Tuesday, many taking selfies as helicopters flew overhead.

As the parade wound down, France’s attention turned to Tuesday’s standoff against Spain in the soccer World Cup semifinal in Texas. As Macron greeted crowds on the Champs-Elysees, spectators chatted with him about France’s chances of victory.

The French tricolor is everywhere — in sidewalk cafes and bars, and the hundreds of fan zones set up in cities and small towns around France. They started filling up hours before the match.

Bastille Day also coincides with the annual Tour de France cycling race, which adjusted the timing of Tuesday’s stage to ensure that the finish line arrivals wouldn’t compete for viewers with the parade.

Forest fires are raging in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers through its third heat wave this year.

As a result, authorities in some regions — including the French capital — banned fireworks and firefighters’ balls customarily held around Bastille Day.

The Eiffel Tower’s fireworks and drone show was maintained, however, and held Monday night, including a drone formation shaped like the Statue of Liberty — a gift from France to the United States.