On May 9, the annual Victory Day parade is taking place in Moscow’s Red Square. The parade marks the 78th anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War.
In his speech, President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russians on Victory Day, recalled the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and addressed the key ongoing events.
The President emphasized that the civilization is now at a turning point.
“A real war has once again been unleashed against our Motherland. But we have repulsed international terrorism, we will protect the inhabitants of Donbass, and we will ensure our security,” the president stressed.
The Western elites talk about their exclusivity, play off people and provoke bloody conflicts, sow Russophobia and aggressive nationalism, Putin said.
The President pointed out that the West is provoking conflicts and upheavals, destroying values in order to continue to dictate its own rules, and in fact a system of robbery and violence.
At the same time, Russia’s opponents forgot who defeated the monstrous global evil.
Desecration of the deeds and victims of the people that won that war is a crime and revanchism of those who were preparing a new campaign against Russia, Putin noted.
Putin noted that the Ukrainian people became a hostage of the criminal regime supported by the West, a bargaining chip in their cruel and selfish plans.
At the same time, the Russian President pointed to the heads of post-Soviet states who arrived at the parade and recalled that all the peoples of the USSR fought together against Nazism.
“I am convinced that the experience of solidarity and partnership during the years of struggle against a common threat is a support right now, when the world is moving towards multipolarity,” Putin said.
The president added that Russia is proud of the participants of the special military operation, who fight on the front line, supply the front, and save the wounded.
You are fighting with honor for Russia, Putin said.
The speech ended with a minute of silence in memory of those who died during the Great Patriotic War.
Hundreds took to the streets of Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome and elsewhere to honor Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe from Nazis
Hundreds of Russians living abroad and many locals, too, have taken part in traditional ‘Immortal Regiment’ parades in several European cities on the eve of Victory Day. Participants carrying photos of their relatives who fought in WWII expressed gratitude to the Soviet army for liberating the continent from Nazis.
On Sunday, a commemorative march was held in Frankfurt, Germany, drawing several hundred. They walked through the streets, carrying Soviet and Russian flags along with portraits of their relatives. One of the participants told Ruptly video agency that he had joined the march because “we must not forget the sacrifice [Soviet soldiers] made.” The man added that he felt that “it is our duty to pass this on to the new generations.”
More than 200 people, both Russians and locals, turned up for the ‘Immortal Regiment’ parade in central Rome on Sunday
Also on Sunday, a similar event was organized in the Spanish capital Madrid, where the procession was at one point confronted by people waving Ukrainian flags, as reported by Ruptly. Police quickly moved in to separate the two groups, preventing any potential altercations.
“It is a tribute to the Soviet people, to the Red Army, who were left with between 27 and 30 million dead in the fight against fascism,” Nines Maestro, one of the demonstrators in Madrid, told Ruptly.
More than 200 people, both Russians and locals, turned up for the ‘Immortal Regiment’ parade in central Rome on Sunday. Several flags of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics were spotted during the rally.
Also attending the event was Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Italy, Mikhail Rossiysky.
The march organizer, Tamara Dzhuranova, told Russia’s RIA Novosti media outlet that the ‘Immortal Regiment’ had for the second year attracted quite a lot of Italians.
Journalist and writer Fulvio Grimaldi, for his part, claimed that just like the Soviet Union “saved us all in the last century,” so is Russia “saving us today again.”
Around 200 people also gathered around a Soviet WWII memorial in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Sunday.
Russia’s ambassador there Dmitry Lyubinsky addressed the participants, saying Victory Day is a sacred date for all Russians, and expressed confidence that all attempts to rewrite history would eventually fail.
Similar rallies were held in Beijing, Istanbul, Caracas and Buenos Aires, to name but a few locations.
The concept of the ‘Immortal Regiment’ was born in Russia’s city of Tomsk in 2012, with the tradition having since gained much traction nationally and further afield.
Hundreds of people have taken part in ‘Immortal Regiment’ parades in several European cities, honoring Soviet soldiers who fought in WWII Read More
Happy #VictoryDay ! #Победа78 🧡🖤🧡🖤 https://t.co/j2a14FHVgS
— Dmitry Polyanskiy 🇺🇳 (@Dpol_un) May 8, 2023