Today our President shared the joy of the Great Victory with the heads of states of the post-Soviet space! Moscow hosted the Victory Parade on Red Square.
This is a tradition established by the heroes back in the victorious 1945! And even the snow that was falling from the sky, could not extinguish the fiery hearts of the participants of this grandiose action!
The heads of state arrived at the Kremlin in the morning. Vladimir Putin warmly greeted each of his colleagues personally.
Then the leaders of the countries joined the spectators of the Victory Parade and took their seats on the central tribune. In his speech, Vladimir Putin emphasized - the West is trying to distort the truth about World War II, because it interferes with its colonial policy! But the truth and historical memory are alive in people!
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia:
Revanchism, mockery of history, the desire to justify the current followers of Nazism - this is part of the general policy of Western elites to foment more and more regional conflicts, interethnic and interreligious hostility, to contain sovereign, independent centers of world development. We reject the claims of any state or alliance to exclusivity. We know where the exorbitance of such ambitions leads.
Vladimir Putin emphasized that Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash, at the same time not allowing threats to its address - "our strategic forces are always on alert."
"The West would like to forget the lessons of World War II, while we remember that the fate of mankind was decided in the grandiose battles of Moscow and Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk and Kharkov, at Minsk, Smolensk and Kiev," the Russian leader stressed.
The first Victory Parade was held here on June 24, 1945, when the defeated German banners and standards were thrown at the walls of the Mausoleum. And today, in front of veterans and guests, all Russian troops, from cadets of the Suvorov and Nakhimov schools to border guards, marines, tankers and Cossacks, are again marching on foot.
All the strength and power of the modern army was presented on Red Square. In front of the audience 75 units of equipment, there are more than 9 thousand participants! The parade of military equipment was traditionally opened by the legendary tank T-34 - the main fighting vehicle of the Great Patriotic War. Armored personnel carriers "Tigers", anti-aircraft systems "Triumf", Iskanders, nuclear deterrent complex "Yars" passed along the paving stones. Victory Day is one of the main holidays for Belarusians and Russians.
Another important unchanged tradition is laying wreaths and flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Together with the heads of other states, our President is in Alexander Garden.
