Reuters, Moscow :
Thousands of Russian troops marched across Red Square, tanks rumbled through the streets and jets screamed overhead on Saturday in a huge military parade marking the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany.
Western leaders boycotted the parade over Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis but President Vladimir Putin was joined under the Kremlin’s walls by about 30 foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, sitting on his right-hand side.
In a sign of closer ties between Russia and China, a column of Chinese troops took part in the events. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was also among those watching.
Among the armor on display was the Armata T-14, which will be Russia’s first new
battle tank to be deployed for 40 years, as soldiers, some wearing World War Two uniforms, filed past the Kremlin under blue skies and bright sunshine.
War veterans watched from the grandstand, their chests bristling with medals, while crowds of people choked the sidestreets around the Kremlin, cheering and shouting as fighter jets roared over Moscow’s city center.
“Victory day is the most important holiday for Russia. In practically every Russian family, someone has died fighting for this country,” said 43-year-old former marine Alexander Smolkin.
“My own grandfather died defending Russia, this is our day to remember them,” he said, adjusting his light-blue beret, medals and military fatigues.
Putin has used the anniversary to whip up patriotism and fuel anti-Western sentiment, warning that fascism could be on the rise again and suggesting other countries are rewriting history to play down Moscow’s role in winning the war.
“The basic principles of international cooperation have been ignored more often in the last decades. The principles which were hard won by humankind following the global hardships of the war,” he told rows of soldiers standing to attention.
Thousands of Russian troops marched across Red Square, tanks rumbled through the streets and jets screamed overhead on Saturday in a huge military parade marking the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany.
Western leaders boycotted the parade over Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis but President Vladimir Putin was joined under the Kremlin’s walls by about 30 foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, sitting on his right-hand side.
In a sign of closer ties between Russia and China, a column of Chinese troops took part in the events. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was also among those watching.
Among the armor on display was the Armata T-14, which will be Russia’s first new
battle tank to be deployed for 40 years, as soldiers, some wearing World War Two uniforms, filed past the Kremlin under blue skies and bright sunshine.
War veterans watched from the grandstand, their chests bristling with medals, while crowds of people choked the sidestreets around the Kremlin, cheering and shouting as fighter jets roared over Moscow’s city center.
“Victory day is the most important holiday for Russia. In practically every Russian family, someone has died fighting for this country,” said 43-year-old former marine Alexander Smolkin.
“My own grandfather died defending Russia, this is our day to remember them,” he said, adjusting his light-blue beret, medals and military fatigues.
Putin has used the anniversary to whip up patriotism and fuel anti-Western sentiment, warning that fascism could be on the rise again and suggesting other countries are rewriting history to play down Moscow’s role in winning the war.
“The basic principles of international cooperation have been ignored more often in the last decades. The principles which were hard won by humankind following the global hardships of the war,” he told rows of soldiers standing to attention.
