MOSCOW, May 9 (Xinhua) — Russia held a grand navy parade in central Moscow’s Red Square on Tuesday to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory within the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
In an deal with to troops and friends forward of the annual occasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned, “for us in Russia, the memory of the defenders of the motherland is sacred. We keep it in our hearts.”
He paid tribute to the allied armies who bravely fought Nazism and honored the feat of Chinese troopers within the battle in opposition to Japanese militarism.
The Russian chief led a minute of silence in reminiscence of the Soviet troopers who fell throughout the struggle.
“For Russia, there are no unfriendly, hostile peoples either in the West or in the East. Like the vast majority of people on the planet, we want to see a future of peace, freedom and stability,” Putin pressured.
He denounced some Western elites for “provoking bloody conflicts and upheavals, sowing hatred” with the intention to “continue to dictate, to impose their will, rights, rules on others.”
Russia is able to making certain its safety as “a real war has once again been unleashed against our motherland,” Putin mentioned.
Before Putin’s speech, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a black open-top limousine reviewed the troops lining up on Red Square and wished them a cheerful Victory Day. The troops in full gown chanted “Hooray!” in reply.
More than 8,000 navy personnel, together with 530 troopers of the particular navy operation, and 125 gadgets of navy {hardware} participated within the 47-minute ceremony. The conventional air present was canceled this yr.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev watched the celebrations alongside Putin on the rostrum.
After the parade, Putin and the international leaders laid flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden outdoors the Kremlin wall.
Celebrations had been held throughout Russia on Tuesday to mark the overcome Nazi Germany, an integral a part of World War II. The Soviet Union misplaced roughly 27 million individuals within the struggle, each troopers and civilians, based on official statistics.
(File photograph).