Celebratory events took place in Russia to mark the 80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War.

There was a grand military parade at Red Square in the capital city of Moscow on May 9.

Amid the playing of song “Just War”, the national flag of the Russian Federation and the flag of victory entered the square.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation and supreme commander of its armed forces, made a speech.

In the speech he congratulated the Russian service personnel and people on the anniversary of the great victory.

May 9 is the most important holiday for the whole country, all the people, all the families and every individual, he said, noting that fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers saved the country and handed down to younger generations as inheritance the request that they should defend the country, join together and fully protect the interests of the state, the 1 000-year history, culture and traditional values.

Russia will neither forget the lesson of the Second World War nor allow the attempts to distort the events of those days and slander the genuine victors, he stated.

The Nazi plot to occupy the Soviet Union was foiled by the steel-strong unity of the country, he said, underlining that Russia will as ever take for a model the war veterans, their true love for the country and their readiness to defend their home towns and justice, cherish such traditions and great inheritances and hand them down to posterity.

Russia will always rely on unity in fight and peaceful labour, in attaining its strategic goal and in carrying out the tasks for the dignity and prosperity of the state, he declared.

Then the parade began.

The columns of paraders, which were formed with service personnel of all services and arms, participants in the special military operations, students of military schools at all levels, personnel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the National Guard, the Federal Security Service, etc., marched past the platform of the square.

Then led by the legendary T-34 tank, all kinds of military and technical equipment such as armoured vehicles, self-propelled guns, missile complexes and drones passed by the platform in columns, and fighters represented the Russian flag in the sky above the square.

After the military parade was over, there was a ceremony of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beside the Kremlin walls.

That day, military parades and a variety of other celebratory events were held in major Russian cities including St Petersburg, Smolensk, Volgograd, Murmansk and Vladivostok.