In Pictures: Russia marks victory over Nazis 80 years on
Victory Day is one of the country’s biggest secular holidays, commemorating the 27 million Russians lost in the war.
Moscow’s Red Square has hosted a massive military parade, as Russia marked 80 years since the defeat of the Nazis in the Second World War.
Victory Day on May 9 is one of Russia’s biggest national holidays, as the country marks the 27 million people who were lost from the former Soviet Union during the conflict.
The parade sees Russian President Vladimir Putin projecting his country’s global power, even as the conflict in Ukraine drags on.
The Second World War is a rare event in Russia’s divisive history under Communist rule that is revered by all political groups, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.
The former Soviet Union lost 27 million people in what it refers to as the Great Patriotic War in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.
Speaking at the parade, Mr Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory”.
The parade featured more than 11,500 troops and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armoured infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia’s nuclear might, launchers for the Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled across Red Square.
Fighter jets of Russian air force’s aerobatic teams flew by in close formation followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colours of the national flag.
After the show, Mr Putin shook hands with Russian military officers who led the troops on Red Square. He also talked to a group of medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.
Festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports.
Russian authorities tightened security before the parade and mobile phone internet outages have been reported amid electronic counter-measures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.
Mr Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting on May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops will retaliate to any attacks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes on Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings.
As the Red Square parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European officials were meeting in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal tasked to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.
