Russia Marks 75th Anniversary Of WWII Victory With Main Military Parade In Moscow

Russia Marks 75th Anniversary of WWII Victory With Main Military Parade in Moscow

The main military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet defeat over Nazi Germany took place in Moscow not on the traditional May 9, when Red Army soldiers planted a Soviet flag over the German seat of power in Berlin, but on June 24, when the victors brought defeated Nazi insignia to the Soviet capital and cast it down at the Kremlin walls

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2020) The main military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet defeat over Nazi Germany took place in Moscow not on the traditional May 9, when Red Army soldiers planted a Soviet flag over the German seat of power in Berlin, but on June 24, when the victors brought defeated Nazi insignia to the Soviet capital and cast it down at the Kremlin walls.

Before some 14,000 military personnel in the Red Square, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed that the victory determined the future of the planet and forever remained in history as the most ambitious.

"I congratulate you on the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the victory that determined the future of the planet for decades to come and forever remained in history as the greatest in its scale, spiritual and moral significance," Putin said from the podium.

Putin also emphasized that the achievements that the Soviet people undertook saved entire populations of people, not just Soviets.

"[Soviet people] freed the European states from the invaders, put an end to the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust and saved the people of Germany from Nazism, from its deadly ideology," Putin said, adding that it was difficult to imagine what would have happened to the world if the Red Army didn't come to its defense.

The president went on to stress that the gravity of the sacrifice obliges today's people to defend and preserve the honest truth about the events of the war.

"The Red Army treaded its heroic, righteous and sacrificial path to the very end, to the point of victory. This is where the main, honest and clear truth about the war. We must protect [the truth about the Great Patriotic War] and defend it, to pass it on to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren," the head of state said.

The Russian head of state was accompanied on the stands by veterans of the conflict as well as heads of states and governments from Serbia, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Most of the regiments that took part in the parade have links to the Great Patriotic War and included military from most post-Soviet states as well as China, India, Mongolia and Serbia.

Russia's state-of-the-art military machine followed the marching brigades. Never-seen-before TOS-2 heavy flamethrower system was shown to the public for the first time driving down Red Square. The thermobaric multiple rocket launch system was previously seen only in combat exercise videos released by the military.

The Pantsir-SM was another novelty to partake in the parade. This long-range air defense system is believed to be able to detect, track and hit mini-drones at a radius of hundreds of kilometers, although details remain scant about the true specifications. It is set to join the military arsenal in 2021.

Aircraft soon followed, displaying Russia's airborne military might with the participation of the many legendary warplanes. Most notable were two squadrons of four fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jets and four MiG-31 supersonic fighter-interceptors with the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system onboard.

Watching from the stands amongst the leaders were war veterans, whose numbers were reduced this year due to pandemic risks. With some 95,000 living war veterans in Russia, the stands are usually filled with highly-decorated citizens. This years' participants had to undergo precautionary measures to watch their former ranks march down the square.

After the parade, Putin and the other leaders walked from the Red Square to the Alexander Garden where they paid respects to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The remains of the unknown soldier were exhumed from a mass grave just 20 kilometers outside of Moscow, which was the closest approach of the Nazi German forces to the Soviet capital. This symbolizes the sacrifices suffered by the Soviet people during the war to fend off a literal existential threat.