A military parade to celebrate the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War is taking place in Moscow's Red Square. It will be attended by 11,000 military personnel, 131 units of military equipment, and 77 helicopters and aircraft.
In a message on Sunday to the leaders and people of the former Soviet republics, Russian President Vladimir Putin once against emphasised how crucial it is to preserve the truth about what happened during the Great Patriotic War and to pass this knowledge on to future generations, as well as to nurture "the common spiritual values and traditions of fraternal friendship."
This year, the Victory Day parade is being held as Russia conducts a special military operation in Ukraine with the goal of demilitarising and de-Nazifying the country. President Putin has stressed that the people of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics have been subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime, which was "hijacked" by nationalists and neo-Nazis after the West-backed coup in 2014.
Russia celebrates Victory Day on 9 May, unlike most European countries which commemorate the end of the Second World War in Europe on 8 May. This is because the end of all combat activities was declared at 23:01 Central European Time, which is behind the Soviet Union's time zones.
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