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Alongside with the President of Russia on the stand were President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel y Bermúdez, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló, and President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith. Before the parade, Vladimir Putin welcomed the heads of foreign states who had arrived in Moscow for the celebrations, in the Heraldic Hall of the Kremlin.

The parade began when the the national flag of Russia and the Banner of Victory were carried into Red Square. The parade was led by Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Army General Oleg Salyukov and reviewed by Acting Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The marching column on Red Square included 30 ceremonial regiments of over 9,000 service personnel, among them over 1,000 troops taking part in the special military operation.

The motorised column was headed by the legendary “Victory tank,” the T-34. Tigr-M, VPK Ural and KAMAZ multi-purpose utility armoured vehicles, Linza Protected Field Ambulances, Iskander-M operational tactical missile systems, S-400 Triumf air defence launchers, Yars mobile ground-based missile systems and BTR-82A armoured personnel carriers drove through Red Square.

The Victory Day parade ended with an aerial part with Su-30M and MiG-29 jets flown by the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) and Strizhi aerobatic teams flying over Red Square in the famous lozenge-shaped Cuban Diamond formation, followed by six Su-25 fighter jets painting the sky into the colours of the Russian flag.

The music accompaniment was provided by the Moscow garrison’s combined military orchestra.

* * *

Speech by the President of Russia at the military parade

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens of Russia,

Dear veterans,

Comrade soldiers and sailors, sergeants and sergeant majors midshipmen and warrant officers,

Comrade officers, generals and admirals,

Soldiers and commanders, frontline personnel participating in the special military operation,

I congratulate you on Victory Day! This is our main, truly national sacred holiday.

Today we are honouring our fathers and grandfathers and grand-grandfathers. They defended their native land and crushed Nazism, liberated the peoples of Europe and displayed unparalleled heroism in combat and on the home front.

Today, we are witnessing attempts to distort the truth about World War II. This truth is a sore for those who have developed a habit of basing their effectively colonial policy on duplicity and lies. They are tearing down memorials to those who really fought Nazism, erecting monuments to traitors and Hitler’s accomplices and erasing the memory of the heroism and noble spirit of the liberators and the great sacrifice they made for the sake of all life on Earth.

Harbouring revanchist sentiments, making a mockery of history, and seeking to justify present-day Nazi followers is part of what constitutes a common policy of Western elites to fuel regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious strife and to contain sovereign and independent centres of global development.

We reject exceptionalist claims of any country or alliance. We know what this unchecked ambition may lead to. Russia will do utmost to avoid a global confrontation but it will not allow itself to be threatened. Our strategic forces are always in combat readiness.

The West would love to forget the lessons of World War II, but we remember that the destiny of humankind was decided during the colossal battles of Moscow, Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk, Kharkov, Minsk, Smolensk and Kiev, and in the intense and bloody fighting from Murmansk to the Caucasus and the Crimea.

For the first three long and harsh years of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union, along with all its constituent republics, fought the Nazis virtually single-handedly, while the virtually of all Europe worked to support the Nazi war machine.

But let me emphasise: Russia has never belittled the significance of the Second Front or that of Allied assistance. We honour the valor of all members of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, the Resistance Movement, the underground movement and guerrillas, as well as the courage displayed by the peoples of China fighting for their independence against militarist Japan's aggression. We will forever remember and we will never forget our joint struggle and the inspiring traditions of alliance.

Friends!

Russia is now going through a difficult, watershed moment of its history. The fate of our Motherland and its future depend on each us.

Today, on Victory Day, we feel it ever more sharply and never fail to draw inspiration from our generation of the brave, noble and wise victors, and the way they cherished friendship and remained firm in the face of adversity, always trusted themselves and their country, and had a sincere and selfless love for their Motherland.

We are celebrating Victory Day against the backdrop of the Special Military Operation. All of those engaged in it, on the frontlines, are our heroes. We are humbled by your fortitude and self-sacrifice. All of Russia stands with you.

Our veterans, too, believe in you, and they are worried about you. That they remain involved emotionally in your lives and heroism is an unbreakable tie that binds this heroic generation together.

Today we honour the radiant memory of those whose lives were taken by the Great Patriotic War, the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grand-grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, family members and loved ones and friends.

We bow our heads while cherishing the memory of the Great Patriotic War’s veterans who are no longer with us. In memory of civilians who died in the barbarous shelling and terrorist attacks committed by the neo-Nazis, and of our brothers-in-arms who have fallen in the struggle against neo-Nazism and in the righteous fight for Russia.

I declare a minute of silence.

(A moment of silence.)

Our dear veterans, comrades and friends!

May 9 is always an emotional and poignant date. Every family cherishes its heroes, looks at their photographs, their dear, beloved faces, remembers their family members and their tales of war and toil.

Victory Days unites all generations. We are going forwards relying on our centuries-old traditions and feeling confident that together we will ensure a free and secure future of Russia.

Glory to the valiant Armed Forces! For Russia! For Victory!

Hurah!