In Moscow, the traditional Victory Day military parade over Hitler took place Germany. President Putin highlighted his country's combat capability.
The traditional Victory Day parade in Moscow this year also took place on Red Square - with the participation of over 9,000 people and 70 pieces of equipment.
This time the distinguished foreign guests were from nine countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau and Laos. A year ago, the heads of state from abroad who attended the parade were only seven.
Putin threatened with nuclear weapons
In his Victory Day speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the "strategic forces" of Russia "are always on alert". In his words, the Russian Federation "will do everything to prevent a global collision, but at the same time will not allow anyone to threaten it". The Russian fighters fighting in Ukraine were called "heroes" and the ninth of May - a "holy holiday".
Putin once again accused the Western elites of "revanchism, mockery of history and seeking to justify today's followers of the Nazis". "They tear down the monuments of the real fighters against Nazism, put the helpers of the Hitlerites on a pedestal, put a cross in memory of the heroism and nobility of the liberating soldiers,", said the Russian president.
Putin is increasingly using Victory Day to present his ordered war against Ukraine as a continuation of the war against fascism, observers say. The Russian president routinely accuses Ukraine of being a follower of the German National Socialists. The same, according to him, also applies to the countries that support it.
Only one tank took part in the parade
As a year ago, only one T-34 tank, which is 80 years old, took part in the Victory Day parade in Moscow. Besides him, various armored cars, "Iskander-M" missile complexes, S-400 anti-aircraft missile complexes, strategic missile complex "Yars" passed through the Red Square. Su-30, MiG-29 and Su-25 fighters flew in the sky over the Russian capital.