Accessibility links

Breaking News
People are reflected in the glass of a bus stop as a Russian T-90 tank participates in the rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow.
People are reflected in the glass of a bus stop as a Russian T-90 tank participates in the rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow.

Live Blog: Victory Day In Russia

Key Points

-- Russia is rolling out its military might in a Red Square parade featuring 16,000 troops and an arsenal of hardware from the latest generation Armata tanks to 143 combat aircraft.

-- The event marks 70 years since victory over Nazi Germany by Allied forces -- a victory which Moscow now largely claims as its own.

-- Two dozen world leaders have flown to Russia for the parade, but Western leaders have chosen to stay away.

07:39 9.5.2015

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service is live-tweeting Victory Day in Ukraine and Russia on Twitter. Some impressive photos from across there region. Follow them here.

07:36 9.5.2015

Here is a gallery of then-and-now photographs of Berlin from 1945 and 2015 in the now-popular slider style. Check them out.

07:32 9.5.2015

If you read Russia, check out this page that collects all the Victory Day-related coverage by RFE/RL's Russian Service. Some really inetresting stuff here, including many interviews with veterans.

Ukrainian WWII veteran Ivan Zaluzhny, 97 years of age
Ukrainian WWII veteran Ivan Zaluzhny, 97 years of age

07:27 9.5.2015

This Facebook post shows the various symbols of Victory Day that are being used across the former Soviet Union by those who are upset by Russia's heavy-handed use of the black and orange St. George ribbon this year:

See RFE/RL's story on this topic here.

07:24 9.5.2015

Putin finishes his brief speech with another congratulations. Soldiers respond with shouts of "ura!" and a cannonade fires.

07:22 9.5.2015

For the first time ever at a Victory Day parade, Putin has declared a minute of silence.

Here is a snip from Interfax's coverage:

"We pay homage to everyone who fought to the bitter end for every
street, for every house, for every boundary of the fatherland. Who died
in brutal fighting near Moscow and in Stalingrad, on the Kursk Bulge and
on the Dnepr. Who died of hunger and cold in unconquered Leningrad. Who
was tortured to death in concentration camps, in captivity, under
occupation," he said reviewing the parade in Moscow's Red Square on the
70th anniversary of V-Day.
He said the nation bows to the memory of everyone who did not
return from the war.
"A minute of silence is being declared," he said.

07:21 9.5.2015

A military parade is also being held in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, which is controlled by Russia-back separatists:

07:19 9.5.2015

Now is criticizing the "folly" of creating unipolar world or relying on military blocs.

07:18 9.5.2015

Putin congratulates soliders and all on the occasion of Victory Day. Now he is thanking the Allies -- France, Britain, the United States, by name -- for their contributions to victory.

07:14 9.5.2015

Defense Minister Shoigu has declared the parade ready and President Vladimir Putin has approached the podium.

Load more

XS
SM
MD
LG