Moscow: Leaders of 27 nations joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Addressing the Victory Day parade at the Red Square here, Putin underscored that the defeat of Nazi Germany was accomplished through the collective efforts of Allied Nations, and the opening of the second front by the Normandy landing of the Allied forces contributed to bringing the victory in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people closer.
“The complete defeat of Nazi Germany, militarist Japan, and their satellites across various regions of the world was achieved through the joint efforts of the Allied Nations. We will always remember that the opening of the Second Front in Europe, following the decisive battles on Soviet territory, helped bring victory closer,” he said.
The Victory Day celebrations in Moscow are being attended by leaders of 27 foreign states, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
India was represented by Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, as due to ongoing Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were unable to travel abroad.
The other leaders who attended the Victory Day parade include Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, Belarus President Alexander
Lukashenko, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie, and Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo.
This year, the military parade on Moscow’s Red Square involved over 11,000 troops, including 1,500 combatants of the special military operation and 183 WWII and advanced weapons systems.
Contingents from 13 countries, including China, Egypt, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, also marched at the Red Square parade.
Several CIS countries, which were part of the Soviet Union, also sent their military contingents.
Battle-hardened units involved in Moscow’s Special Military Operations in Ukraine also marched through Red Square.
Festivities this year were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot on Wednesday morning cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed over 140 others as the military were repelling repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.
Russian authorities have tightened security ahead of the parade and cellphone internet outages have
been reported amid electronic countermeasures aimed at foiling more potential drone attacks.
Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting May 7 to coincide with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops will retaliate to any attacks.
Moscow has been reluctant to accept a U.S.-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.
Ukrainian authorities reported scores of Russian strikes on Friday that killed at least two people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and damaged buildings.
As the Red Square parade and other festivities unfolded in Moscow, dozens of European
officials were meeting in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to endorse the creation of a special tribunal tasked to prosecute Russian officials accused of war crimes.
“Today, we celebrate Europe Day with Ukraine and its people,” EU foreign
policy chief, Kaja Kallas, wrote on X, adding that “we stand united with Ukraine for a lasting peace.”