Russia is celebrating Victory Day with festivities all across the nation marking the 72nd anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. Dozens of Russian cities are staging military parades, concerts, firework displays and other festive events.
09 May 2017
Moscow V-Day celebrations culminated in an impressive fireworks display that illuminated the skies over Russia’s capital at 16 locations, including Red Square, Sparrow Hills, and Poklonnaya Hill. Over 70 types of various fireworks lit up the night sky, said Colonel Vyacheslav Paradnikov, according to RIA Novosti. Seventy-two firework installations and 18 cannons made some 10,000 firings in 10 minutes, he added.
Veterans of the Great Patriotic War shared their impressions of the V-Day parade with the Ruptly news agency in Red Square.
"I have marched in parades on the 9th of May dozens of times. Now our grandchildren picked up the baton, and they will protect our Motherland as we did," one veteran said.
"I feel very happy and proud of the worthy rising generation. We have passed our duty to those young military people who paraded the square today, but we are very grateful that we also are remembered and invited to take part, it means a lot to us," another World War II veteran said.
The military equipment featured in the festivities also impressed the veterans, who said it was interesting for them to look "at the achievements in the industry" compared to what they used during the war.
"With such machinery, no one should dare attack us," a veteran told Ruptly.
In Athens, Greece, the Immortal Regiment March was headed by the daughter of famous sergeant Meliton Kantariya, who together with sergeant Mikhail Egorov, hoisted a Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin on May 1, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Eight Greek cities were expected to see the regiment marching through their streets, Aleksandr Khomenko, head of Russian Centre for Science and Culture, said. This year, some 2,000 people took part in the event and then proceeded to Zappeion Park where they viewed a broadcast of the morning military parade in Moscow and enjoyed a concert, TASS reported.
RT correspondent Laura Smith has reported from the Immortal Regiment event taking place in the heart of London, speaking to the descendants of those who fought in WWII.
As night has already fallen in Russia’s Far East, the city of Vladivostok was among the first to enjoy a fireworks display after thousands of citizens joined Victory Day celebrations and the Immortal Regiment March.
Over 800,000 people are taking part in the march of the Immortal Regiment in Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has reported.
Russian veterans Konstantin Fedotov, 90, and Alexander Ovcharov, 80, who were schoolboys during World War II, share their most vivid memories of the pervasive unease and difficulties they lived through during the struggle against Nazi Germany.
Hundreds came to the Soviet War Memorial near the Imperial War Museum in London to honor the memory of the victims of World War II.
“Today, we’re commemorating people, who gave their lives for Victory, who brought it closer,” Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko said at the ceremony.
Some 600,000 people are taking part in the Immortal Regiment March in Moscow, according to police estimates, with new participants flocking to the city center to honor their relatives who fought in the World War II.
This RT video shows the meager bread rations that the citizens of the city of Leningrad were allotted during the 872-day siege. While Germany’s troops were tightening their grip on the besieged city, the rations were gradually getting smaller. Though the bread contained ingredients of questionable edibility, such as plant materials and pine needles, it was the only means the residents had to sustain their daily battle.
Many survivors of the Leningrad siege said afterwards that they could never throw food away again – especially bread.
The Immortal Regiment March has entered Moscow’s Red Square. President Putin is leading the procession of thousands of people honoring their relatives who fought in World War II.
Though time passes, popular war-time songs are still well known all across the former Soviet Union. People from different countries enjoy and sing the legendary song, ‘Katyusha’.
The decision to cancel the airshow at Moscow’s Victory Day parade was made solely due to the harsh weather conditions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“You don’t need an order either from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief or the Defense Minister to cancel the flights. There are meteorological safety restrictions, when military aviation cannot fulfill its duties,” Peskov said. “The cloud cover was almost at 150 meters, while aircraft, according to safety regulations, should not fly when it’s lower than 500 meters.”
Three air force units known as the Night Witches, made up of women mostly under the age of 22, were formed in 1941. More than 20 of their members were awarded the distinction of ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ for bombing enemy positions and delivering supplies to surrounded Soviet soldiers. RT takes a look at some of their stories.
Tanya Savicheva, who was an 11-year-old schoolgirl when the Great Patriotic War broke out, left behind a wartime diary consisting of just nine pages. It documents life during the Siege of Leningrad, in which almost all her family died, along with hundreds of thousands of other residents. The most frequently used word in her account was ‘death.’
“The Savichevs are dead. Everyone is dead. Only Tanya is left,” she wrote after her mother’s death. Tanya was rescued from the besieged city, but ultimately perished at the age of 14 years due to complications from tuberculosis.
The biggest column of World War II-era military hardware participated in the Victory Day parade in town of Verkhnaya Pishma near the Siberian city of Ekaterinburg. The retro military vehicles included a T-35-85 tank, an ISU-152 self-propelled gun, BA-20 and BA-64 armored cars, an STZ-5 military tractor, and other machines provided by the Ural mining and metallurgical company’s museum.
“No one else can stage such an event in Russia, maybe in the whole world,” a museum representative told TASS.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on Victory Day, stating that “the Red Army’s heroic triumph over the Nazis will be forever remembered in Jewish history.”
“It is hard to imagine what the world would look like today had it not been for the Russian people’s incredible sacrifice,” the letter reads.
After attending the military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, President Vladimir Putin alongside his Moldovan counterpart, Igor Dodon, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beside the Kremlin walls to honor the fallen soldiers of World War II. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, and other top Russian officials attended the ceremony.
Military aircraft participated in the Victory Day parade in St. Petersburg for the very first time since 1945. Over 40 planes and helicopters flew just 300-350 meters above Dvortsovaya Square. The pilots tried to keep their speed as low as possible to allow the spectators to see the aircraft in detail.
The Victory Day parade has concluded on Moscow’s Red Square, where some 10,000 people took part and 114 military vehicles were on display, including cutting-edge Armata tanks, S-400 Triumph anti-air missile systems, Yars ICBM launchers, and Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems, as well as the latest generation of the BUK-M2 and TOR-M2U air defense systems. Modern weapons systems guarding Russia’s Arctic regions were showcased during the parade for the very first time, namely the TOR-M2DT and Pantsir-SA missile systems.
Military aircraft won’t be participating in the military parade at Moscow’s Red Square due to harsh weather conditions, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. All the planes and helicopters will return to their base airfields. The legendary ‘Swifts’ and ‘Russian Knights’ aerobatic groups were expected to participate in the Victory Day celebrations. Though you will not see them soaring above Red Square during the parade, you can still experience RT’s immersive 360 video of their fly-by taken their rehearsal.
During the rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev was given the rare honor of flying on board a military aircraft.
Video of a military parade and celebrations in Vladivostok, the first Russian city to celebrate Victory Day.
Live feed of Victory Day celebrations and Immortal Regiment commemoration in southern city of Pyatigorsk.
Thousands participate in an Immortal Regiment march in the southwestern Siberian city of Novokuznetsk.
Victory Day celebrations and Immortal Regiment commemoration in Russia’s western city of Belgorod broadcast live.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy participates in the Immortal Regiment commemoration aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Officials and citizens lay flowers and wreaths at a memorial cemetery in the southern city of Simferopol.
Victory Day parade begins in Moscow’s Red Square.
Victory Day celebrations in Russia’s southern city of Stavropol broadcast live.
Thousands take part in an Immortal Regiment march in the Siberian city of Surgut.
The small southwestern Russian town of Balashov celebrates Victory Day under heavy rain.
The Victory Day parade in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan broadcast live.
Warplanes and dozens of military vehicles are on show at the Victory Day parade in the city of Ekaterinburg.
Military hardware rolls through the streets of the city of Novosibirsk ahead of the Victory Day parade.
The Siberian city of Tyumen is offering their Victory Day celebrations Live, using the 360-degree viewing experience.
The city of Orenburg which lies some 1,500 kilometers southeast of Moscow, celebrates Victory Day with a parade.
The city of Barnaul in Altai Krai, which lies in the West Siberian Plain, held an Immortal Regiment march which was preceded by a parade.
Even the small town of Belogorsk in Amur Oblast celebrated Victory Day with a military parade which among the lighter hardware included a number of tanks and self-propelled artillery pieces.
About 100 elderly people took part in the track-and-field race in Irkutsk dedicated to the memory of the millions of fallen victims of the Great Patriotic War. Children of war, but still young enough to run, participated in the race organized by the City Council of Veterans. The average age of participants was 72 years young.
Thousands of locals from Chita, the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, have carried photos of their loved ones through the city center. The "Immortal Regiment" march was preceded by a military parade involving over 1,700 servicemen and over 60 pieces of military hardware.
Similar celebrations are also underway in Irkutsk, a city on the Angara River in eastern Siberia.
Another noteworthy parade was staged in the city of Blagoveshchensk in Amur Oblast which lies just across the Chinese border.
The Victory Day celebrations in the capital of the Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, began with a military parade on Soviets Square. Over 1,200 servicemen are taking part in the march, with dozens of units of military hardware on show.
Social media users posted videos of Russian weaponry rolling across Vladivostok with Russky Bridge, across the Eastern Bosphorus strait, visible in the background.
The military equipment procession was followed by thousands of locals taking part in the "Immortal Regiment" procession.
Other military parades have been held in the cities of Ussuriysk in Primorsky Krai and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in Sakhalin island.
A military parade is also being held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, home to one of Russia’s Pacific Fleet bases. Over 1,000 servicemen and over 20 pieces of hardware were showcased to locals of the Kamchatka Krai capital.
Following the parade, Vladivostok residents proceeded to hold the "Immortal Regiment" march to remember loved ones who sacrificed their lives for victory over Nazism in World War II.
The city of Khabarovsk is organizing the largest parade in the Far East – involving more than 1,500 servicemen and about 90 units of historical and modern military equipment. It includes the legendary T-34 tank as well as the ”Iskander-M" missile system and the S-300 surface-to-air missile system.
About 1,500 servicemen are taking part in the Victory Parade in Vladivostok, which features anti-aircraft missile systems "Osa" and “S-300.” In addition, the coastal missile systems, "Bal" and "Bastion,” have been presented to the public.
The Victory Day parades, marking the end of the Great Patriotic War, will be held in more than 400 cities and towns across Russia. Out of those, 28 cities will have grand military parades, according to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Overall, 140,000 servicemen will take part in the festivities which will feature about 2,000 units of military equipment, including planes, ships, and even submarines.