Victory Day: 81st anniversary of defeat of Nazi Germany commemorated worldwide
Countries around the world are marking the 81st anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 8 and 9, paying tribute to the millions who gave their lives to defeat the Third Reich.
The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the war, losing an estimated 27 million people in what is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. Victory Day remains one of the country’s most important national holidays.
In Russia, Victory Day is celebrated on May 9 because Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender was signed late on May 8 in Berlin – making it after midnight in Moscow. The annual military parade is set to take place in Red Square on Friday.
Commemorations in several Western European countries, including Germany, have been overshadowed by restrictions on Soviet and Russian symbols such as flags and St. George ribbons, introduced after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has condemned the bans as an attempt to erase the memory of the role of the USSR in defeating Nazism.
Despite the restrictions, people across Europe are continuing to lay flowers at Soviet war memorials and take part in ‘Immortal Regiment’ marches, carrying portraits of relatives who fought the Nazis during the deadliest conflict in human history.
Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier announced a two-day ceasefire for May 8-9 to coincide with the Victory Day commemorations and urged Ukraine to observe it as well. The ministry said on Friday that more than 260 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over Russian territory overnight.
08 May 2026
10:06 GMTRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Nazism, which was defeated during the Second World War, is “rearing its head” again and attempting to rewrite history.
The most vivid example of that is Europe where some politicians are calling to “repeat the experiment” of Adolf Hitler by attacking Russia, he stressed.
"What Germany is doing… is particularly astonishing. Chancellor [Friedrich] Merz has repeatedly... loudly declared that one of his primary goals is to ensure that Germany once again possesses the strongest army in Europe. Well, I think there is no need to explain the true meaning concealed within that phrase,” Lavrov said.
- 09:32 GMT
Vladimir Putin has sent greetings to the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, who were part of the Soviet Union during the Second World War, on the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Kremlin has said in a statement.
Putin stressed that “we acknowledge our gratitude and respect to our fathers and grandfathers who fought shoulder to shoulder... and worked tirelessly on the home front, who, through immeasurable sacrifice and hardship, brought the long-awaited victory over the Nazi invaders ever closer,” the statement read.
He also addressed the public in the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Moldova, urging them “to preserve the memory of those harsh war years and pass on to future generations the fine traditions of friendship and mutual assistance that bind the peoples of our countries.”
- 09:22 GMT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the “military brotherhood” between the Soviet Union, the US, and UK during the Second World War “laid the foundation for a long-term peaceful development of all humanity.” He expressed regret that the current leaders in the West “do not hold sacred” this partnership anymore.
Unlike their counterparts in the US, EU, and Britain, Russian officials “remain constantly and unwaveringly faithful to those agreements. It is not in our historical, political or cultural tradition to sign an accord only to subsequently – and with a clear conscience – do the exact opposite things,” Lavrov stressed.
- 08:40 GMT
Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov has laid a wreath at the Candle of Memory monument in Jerusalem, dedicated to the victims of the Nazi siege of Leningrad – now St. Petersburg – between September 1941 and January 1944.
A group of local Russian-speaking residents who attended the event sang the iconic Soviet song ‘Victory Day’ in honor of the Red Army troops who defeated Adolf Hitler’s forces.
- 08:29 GMT
Germany was never fully “denazified” after World War II, Former Russian President and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote in an article ahead of the 81st anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Medvedev cited declassified Soviet intelligence materials, claiming that “instead of its implementation, the Western powers followed the path of justifying Nazi war criminals.”
He argued that the West sought to preserve “the former leaders of Hitler’s military economy and major Nazis they needed,” adding that the post-war campaign effectively followed the principle: “hang the small ones – acquit the big ones.” Medvedev added that some Western countries still refuse to fully accept the outcome of the Second World War and the rulings of the Nuremberg Tribunal. According to him, Nazi ideology was never fully eradicated from Europe, allowing its “descendants to continue wreaking havoc.”
His remarks come amid repeated accusations by Moscow that Western governments are attempting to rewrite the history of the war and diminish the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany.
You can read the full interview here - 08:22 GMT
Ukraine has carried out 396 aerial attacks on Russian territory, including six missile strikes, since the start of the May 8-9 ceasefire announced by Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry has said in a statement.
There have also been 1,365 violations of the truce by Ukrainian forces in the conflict zone, including by fixed-wing and FPV drone attacks and shelling, it said.
The Russian military ceased all military operations after midnight on Friday on the orders of the supreme commander-in-chief, President Vladimir Putin, but has provided “a tit-for-tat response to ceasefire violations, launching retaliatory strikes against the firing positions of multiple rocket launch systems, artillery, and mortars. UAV сommand posts and launch sites were struck,” the statement read.
- 07:22 GMT
Additional measures to protect Russian President Vladimir Putin have been implemented in response to Vladimir Zelensky’s threat to target the Victory Day parade with drones, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
When asked by journalists if the president’s security is being beefed up, Peskov replied, “undoubtedly.”
Putin is scheduled to attend the parade on Red Square on May 9 alongside the leaders of Slovakia, Malaysia, Belarus and other countries.
Russian authorities announced last month that the parade will be on a smaller scale than in 2025, when the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany was celebrated, and will not include tanks or other military hardware. Peskov subsequently attributed the decision to the Ukrainian “terrorist threat.”
- 07:02 GMT
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will be among the top officials attending the Victory Day parade on Red Square and other events in Moscow on May 9, commemorating the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Belarusian leader’s office has said in a statement.
Lukashenko will also hold talks with Vladimir Putin, who invited him to the Russian capital, discussing bilateral relations and international issues, the statement read.
The president will return home the same day to take part in Victory Day events in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, it added.
- 06:45 GMT
The Austrian authorities have refused to permit a tree-planting ceremony on May 9 commemorating the victims of the Mauthausen Nazi concentration camp, the organizers of the ‘Garden of Memory’ campaign have said.
The event at the Mauthausen Memorial has been preliminary rescheduled for June 22, when Russia marks the Day of Remembrance and Mourning, they told Tass. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without a declaration of war, instigating what Russians now remember as the Great Patriotic War.
Some 30,000 Soviet POWs and civilians died during the Second World War at the Mauthausen Nazi concentration camp, located 20 km east of the Austrian city of Linz.
More than 160 million trees have been planted in 101 countries as part of the ‘Garden of Memory’ campaign, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020.
- 06:38 GMT
“Immortal Regiment” marches and other Victory Day commemorative events are already underway in a number of countries ahead of the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Hundreds of people carrying portraits of their heroic ancestors” have marched through “Washington D.C., New York City, Geneva, Kinshasa, Tokyo, and Kuwait City,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a weekly press briefing on Thursday.
Zakharova added that Russian diplomats abroad are “congratulating veterans, paying tribute to the feat of Soviet soldiers by laying flowers at memorials and graves of those who fell liberating Europe, taking part in Immortal Regiment marches with portraits of their ancestors,” as well as organizing “the St George Ribbon and Garden of Memory campaigns.”
She said “solemn receptions will be held at Russian missions abroad with the participation of compatriots, friends of our country, and all those who remember and honour the feat of the Soviet people.”
