Russia’s Victory Day parade marks 80th anniversary of defeat of Nazi Germany
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have attended the event alongside Vladimir Putin.
Russia has marked the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War with a massive military parade on Red Square attended by President Vladimir Putin and foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9, is the country’s most important secular holiday.
A Red Square parade and other ceremonies underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged as a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine.
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 Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people in what it calls 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 over 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.
Last month, Mr Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed its deployment for the first time.
Festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow on Wednesday, and delayed around 140 others as the military repelled repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.
Russian authorities tightened security ahead of the parade and mobile phone internet outages were reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.
Mr Putin has declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting on Wednesday to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations.
Moscow has been reluctant to accept a US-proposed 30-day truce that Ukraine has accepted, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Kyiv’s mobilisation effort, conditions Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected.
