&host=www.rt.com&uri=/news/wwii-victory-parade-ukraine/&via=1.1 205.128.88.9:80 (Footprint 4.8/FPMCP)&ua=CCBot/1.0 (+http://www.commoncrawl.org/bot.html))
WWII Victory parade in Kiev, Ukraine
Published: 09 May, 2010, 14:30
Edited: 16 July, 2010, 02:31
Ukrainian military personnel during the general rehearsal of the joint WWII Victory parade in Kiev, Ukraine (Ria Novosti / Grigoriy Vasilenko)
(10.8Mb) embed videoTAGS: Anniversary, Military, Ukraine, History
The Ukrainian capital is marking the 65th anniversary of the Victory in WWII along with other former Soviet members of the anti-Hitler coalition.
Today’s celebrations started with the ceremony of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and continued with the triumphant parade on Kiev’s central streets.
This was the biggest military parade in history of sovereign Ukraine in terms of troop participation and hardware. And it actually is the first time since Ukraine became a sovereign state in 1991after the collapse of the USSR that Russian and Ukrainian troops have marched together in the central street in Kiev.
Over 70 servicemen from the Russian armed forces came to Kiev to participate in this parade. This clearly signifies how important this day is for both Russia and Ukraine, which back then in 1945 were a single Soviet state.
The celebrations will be happening all across Ukraine as May 9th festivities continue.
One of the main festive venues in Kiev is the memorial complex “The National Museum of Great Patriotic War 1941-1945”. Here the veterans and all those celebrating can enjoy a theatrical performance and a concert .There is also military equipment on display.
Performances for children are being held in practically every park of the capital.
Up to 7 million Ukrainians perished during WWII and many were put into forced labor.
Ukraine was one of the worst-affected victims of Hitler’s invasion in 1940s. Hitler saw this part of the world as very strategically important. It was from Ukraine that he planned to direct his attacks further into Soviet territory.
Hence capturing Ukraine in the first days of the Great Patriotic War was his priority.
The center of Kiev was set ablaze when the Germans were trying to capture it. More than 600,000 people became prisoners after Kiev felt. May 9 is a landmark day for Ukraine.
09.05.2010, 12:53
4 comments
"We are again looking at WWII heritage through same eyes"Aleksey Urazov, a political analyst from Moscow State University, believes that this year Victory parade is a very different show than on its 60th anniversary. |
09.05.2010, 16:59
Russia deserves great festivities on May 9 - former New Zealand Ambassador“Both our countries had the same goal to choose a free future. New Zealand and Russia shared blood,” says Stuart William Prior, former New Zealand Ambassador to Russia. |
May 10, 2010, 11:20, claymore wrote > How many Ukrainians fought with the Germans against the Soviets in the Second World War and how many continued to fight against the Soviets after the war was over? I find it a liitle odd that no one ever talks about this, maybe it will take some time just like it took the Russians/Soviets a long time to admit what they did to the country of Poland in 1939. You are right, claymore, there were some Ukraininan turncoats who fought on the Nazi side against their own brothers for an evil, alien ideology. The mass murderer Demyanyuk, currently on trial for his crimes, is one of them. But all European countries involved in the war against Nazism had their share of traitors. To me, these people are scum and deserve nothing but contempt.
May 09, 2010, 23:22, bob wrote > World war 2 started when stalin's russian empire allied with Hitler in the Molotov Ribbentrop pact... bob, it is said that little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In your case, little knowledge is not so dangerous as it is embarassing. So why parade your ignorance of history to those of us who are a little better informed about it? Read up on the subject instead of parroting anti-Soviet propaganda, of which you seem to have taken a liberal dose.