World leaders take part in Victory Day Parade in Moscow

A parade in honour of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War has ended in Moscow's Red Square. Twenty-seven countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Cuba, and other states were represented at the high-level event.

In addition, the secretaries-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Nurlan Ermekbayev, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hussein Ibrahim Taha, as well as the President of the New Development Bank (NDB), Dilma Rousseff, arrived in the capital.

The parade lasted for more than an hour. At the beginning, a banner group carried the Russian flag and the Victory Day Banner to the music of the song "The Sacred War" performed by a combined military orchestra. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech.

"Today we are all united by feelings of joy and sorrow, pride and gratitude, adoration for the generation that crushed the Nazis at the cost of millions of lives, won freedom and peace for all mankind. We faithfully preserve the memory of these historic triumphant events and, as heirs of the victors, celebrate the 9th May holiday as a native holiday, as the most important one for the country, for the entire nation, for every family, for each of us"

Vladimir Putin President of Russia

The President announced a minute of silence in memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War. Then he congratulated the participants of the parade on the 80th anniversary of the Victory, after which the national anthem of Russia was played.

This was followed by a solemn procession of guard of honour, historical companies, active servicemen and an orchestra. This year, parades of 13 countries, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Egypt, China, Laos, Mongolia, and Myanmar, also marched through the country's main square. The Chinese military contingent was the largest of the foreign ones – 102 people.

At the finale of the parade, the combined orchestra performed the song "Victory Day".

Earlier, Putin held a number of bilateral meetings with foreign colleagues who arrived in Moscow. In particular, talks were held on 7 May with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel, Mongolian President Ukhnagiin Khurelsukh and leader of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso. A day later, Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On 9 May, the Russian leader is scheduled to hold talks with Brazilian and Egyptian Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, as well as with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The Victory Day Parade was first held on 24 June 1945. It was hosted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, three times Hero of the Soviet Union. Subsequent solemn processions were held in 1965, 1985 and 1990. Since 1995, the Victory Day Parade has become an annual event.

Photo: screenshots of the live broadcast of the Victory Day Parade