Russia commemorated the 69th anniversary of the end of the Second World War this morning with a large military parade on Red Square in Moscow featuring 11 000 soldiers. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech there focused on the historical significance of the victory over Nazism.
"The 9th of May is and shall remain our most important holiday," Putin said in a speech that was broadcast live on Russian television along with the entire parade. The president thanked the veterans of that war and emphasized that "the iron will of the Soviet people saved Europe from slavery."
More than 150 military vehicles and intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads were displayed during the parade. About 70 fighter jets and helicopters flew over the square.
Similar military parades are also being held today in other cities, including in Kerch and Sebastopol in the Crimea, which Russia recently annexed despite international protests. Putin is scheduled to personally attend the parades in the Crimea.
Victory Day is celebrated in Russia to mark the capitulation of German troops. The surrender was signed late in the evening in Berlin on 8 May 1945, which meant it fell after midnight on 9 May Moscow time.
