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President Vladimir Putin:

Dear veterans!

Dear comrades!

Today we are celebrating – celebrating an event that is most dear to our people. But even as we celebrated today, an explosion went off in Kaspiisk.

At the parade just before I compared terrorism to Nazism. Indeed, it is just as inhuman and just as bloodthirsty.

This crime today was committed by scum for whom nothing is sacred. Their crime gives us the right to treat them as we did the Nazis, whose only aim was to bring death, sow fear and kill. Even on this day as we celebrate victory and remember those who died in the war, even on this day, bandits are killing civilians, including children, in cold calculation.

During the Great Patriotic War, people went to war with the call to “Crush the Vermin!” in their minds, and the vermin were destroyed.

And no matter how great the challenges facing Russia today, we will resolve them.

I now ask you to honour the memory of those who died in Kaspiisk.

Today, on the day of the Soviet people’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, I want to address special words to our veterans. I greet all of you who endured much and achieved victory, all of you who not only brought it to your own homes but gave it to the whole world.

To you, dear frontline soldiers, we offer our eternal gratitude and our wishes for health, prosperity and warmth. You deserve this for your achievements and the way you have lived your lives.

The spring of 1945 brought us more than one victory. After our victory in the war came victories in peacetime: victories in rebuilding our economy, achievements in education, culture, in the exploration of outer space and the development of science.

But we also learned difficult lessons from our victory in 1945. This is why, as we build up our country’s economic might, we must ensure that every family has enough for its needs, and as we strengthen the state, we must give greater freedom to our citizens. As we modernise the armed forces, we must not only improve combat preparedness but also raise the civic consciousness of our military and resolve the social problems faced by servicemen.

Today, 57 years after the war, we must also remember that the defeat of Nazism came at the cost of millions of human lives lost, cities devastated and entire countries destroyed. This cost was the consequence of the lack of unity between countries who were unable to unite in time and see the full danger facing the entire world.

The solid coalition of allies dealt the final blow to fascism. Today, when the Nazi ideas of terrorism, intolerance and racial superiority are still present in this world, it is our duty to remember how invaluable is this resource of cooperation that we have.

Dear friends!

The history of the 1940s is permanently bound with the history of World War II. It is a time that was defined by the concepts of war and peace. But it is also defined, ultimately, by the spirit and heroism of our people.

This was truly a national war and it brought truly a national victory. This war is forever written in the chronicles of our Fatherland’s great dates as the feat of our soldiers and the triumph of our commanders, as an example of our people’s unbending will in the fight for the independence of their Motherland.

It is tradition to hold a salute throughout the country on this day in honour of this celebration. This salute will remind us of victory and will also remind us of those who lost their lives in this tragic war. The salute is short-lived but our memories and our understanding of the lessons of this war are infinite – our memory of the great achievement of the Soviet people and our national pride for this most difficult and just victory.

Today we have the full right to remember all our heroes.