Russia Celebrates Victory Day over Nazi Fascism in World War II

Under gusts of wind mixed with snow, the Victory military parade, which is celebrated today in Russia to mark the 79th anniversary of the victory in World War II, traditionally called the Great Patriotic War, took place on Red Square in Moscow. More than 9 thousand servicemen and more than 70 units of military equipment – from armored vehicles and tanks to intercontinental missile systems and aviation – took part in the parade. At the beginning of the event, the guard of honor marched through Red Square with the Russian national flag and the Soviet Victory Banner, which in May 1945 was hoisted on the dome of the Reichstag in Berlin.

President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Cuba, Head of the EAEU observer state Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Oumarou Sissokou Embalo, President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith were present on the stands next to President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Before the start of the parade, Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin’s Armorial Hall welcomed foreign leaders who arrived in Moscow to participate in the festivities.

Before the start of the military parade, Putin congratulated Russian citizens on the “most important and sacred” holiday in the country, dedicated to the Soviet victory over Nazi fascism. Speaking on Red Square in Moscow, the president called on compatriots to honor the memory of the victims, of “fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers who defended their homeland and defeated Nazism, liberated the peoples of Europe.” May 9 has great symbolic significance for the past, shared among the peoples of the former Soviet Union, who on May 9 each year remember the enormous human sacrifices paid 79 years ago: more than 20 million people between 1941 and 1945 were killed on the battlefields and died in Hitler’s concentration camps.

In his speech, Putin said that at present “revanchism, mockery of history, and the desire to justify the current followers of Nazism are part of the general policy of Western elites to foment more and more regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious hostility, and to curb the sovereign and independent centers of world development.”

Putin emphasized that Russia “rejects claims of exclusivity by any state or alliance. We know where the exorbitance of such ambitions leads. Russia will do everything to prevent a global conflict, but at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always ready to fight.”

The lessons of World War II “create obstacles for those who are used to basing their essentially colonial policy on hypocrisy and lies,” said the Russian leader, who officially took office in the Kremlin two days earlier, after winning the March presidential election in which 87% of citizens voted in his favor. The President recalled that “monuments to the true fighters against Nazism” are being demolished, while “traitors and Nazi collaborators” are being erected on pedestals, erasing the memory of the heroism and nobility of the soldiers-liberators, of the great sacrifice in the name of life.

Full text of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech at the military parade on May 9

1. Putin: Dear citizens of Russia! Dear veterans!

Comrades, soldiers and sailors, sergeants and petty officers, midshipmen and warrant officers!

Comrade officers, generals and admirals!

Fighters, commanders, front-line soldiers, heroes of the special military operation!

Congratulations on Victory Day! Congratulations on our most important, truly popular, sacred holiday!

We honor our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers. They defended their native land and crushed Nazism, liberated the peoples of Europe, reached the heights of military and labor valor.

Today we see how the truth about World War II is being tried to distort. It disturbs those who are used to basing their essentially colonial policies on hypocrisy and lies. They demolish memorials to the true fighters against Nazism, put on pedestals the traitors and collaborators of the Nazis, erase the memory of the heroism and nobility of the soldiers-liberators, of the great sacrifice they made in the name of life.

Revanchism, mockery of history, and the desire to justify the current followers of the Nazis are part of the general policy of Western elites to foment more and more regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious hostility, and to contain sovereign, independent centers of world development.

We reject the claim of exclusivity by any state or alliance. We know where the exorbitance of such ambition leads. Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash, but at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always on alert.

The West would like to forget the lessons of the Second World War, but we remember that the fate of mankind was decided in the grandiose battles of Moscow and Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Kharkov, Minsk, Smolensk, and Kiev, in heavy, bloody battles from Murmansk to the Caucasus and Crimea.

For the first three long, difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union, all the republics of the former Soviet Union fought the Nazis practically one on one, while virtually the entire Europe was working for the military might of the Wehrmacht.

That being said, I will emphasize: Russia has never downplayed the importance of the second front and Allied aid. We honor the bravery of all the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, resistance fighters, underground fighters, partisans, the courage of the people of China who fought for their independence against the aggression of militaristic Japan. And we will always remember, never, never forget our common struggle and inspiring tradition of allyship.

Dear friends!

Russia is now going through a difficult, milestone period. The fate of the Motherland, its future depends on each of us.

Today, on Victory Day, we realize it even more sharply and clearly and always look up to the generation of winners – brave, noble, wise, to their ability to preserve friendship and endure hardships, to always be confident in themselves and in their country, to sincerely and selflessly love the Motherland.

We celebrate Victory Day in the context of the special military operation. All its participants – those who are on the front line, on the battle line – are our heroes. We bow to your resilience and sacrifice and selflessness. All Russia is with you.

Our veterans believe in you and are worried about you. Their spiritual involvement in your fates and feats inviolably binds the generation of heroes of the Fatherland.

Today we bow our heads before the light memory of all those whose lives were taken away by the Great Patriotic War.

Before the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends.

We bow our heads to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War who have left us. In front of the memory of civilians killed by barbaric shelling and terrorist attacks by neo-Nazis. In front of our fighting comrades who fell in the fight against neo-Nazism, in the righteous battle for Russia.

A moment of silence is declared.

(One minute of silence.)

Our dear veterans, comrades, friends!

May 9 is always a very emotional, poignant day. Every family honors its heroes, looks at photos, at dear, beloved faces, remembers relatives, their stories about how they fought, how they worked.

Victory Day unites all generations. We are moving forward, relying on our centuries-old traditions, and we are confident that together we will ensure a free and secure future of Russia, our united people!

Glory to the valiant Armed Forces! To Russia! To Victory! Hurray!