2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade

The 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade was a parade that took place in Red Square in Moscow on 9 May 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. The annual parade marks the Allied victory in the Second World War at the Eastern Front, on the same day as the signing of the German act of capitulation to the Allies in Berlin, at midnight of 9 May 1945 (Russian time). President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin delivered his twelfth holiday address to the nation on this day, right after the parade inspection that was presided by Minister of Defense General of the Army Sergey Shoygu.

Being a landmark jubilee parade honoring the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in the European continent, the 2015 parade was the largest and most lavish held in Russian history. Col. Gen. Oleg Salyukov, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, was the 2015 commander. In addition to troops of the Russian Federation, 1,300 troops from 10 foreign countries were also on parade, including contingents from China, India, Serbia, and Mongolia, all four countries making their first appearance at a Russian Victory Day parade.

Following the official parade, over 500,000 Russians and foreign attendees marched through central Moscow in commemoration of those who perished and those who survived World War II. The Moscow leg of this parade, which is an annual Victory Day tradition called the March of the Immortal Regiment and observed in numerous other Russian cities and in several other countries, was led by President Putin whose father served during the war. It is estimated that up to 12 million Russians participated nationwide in the 2015 March of the Immortal Regiment.

Amongst those in attendance were President of China, Xi Jinping;President of India, Pranab Mukherjee;President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma;President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev;President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev;President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon;President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan;President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev;President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolić;President of Mongolia, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj;President of Vietnam, Trương Tấn Sang;President of Cuba, Raúl Castro;President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro;President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi; and the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. In all, around 30 international leaders attended the parade, including heads of UNESCO and the Council of Europe, with invitations having been sent to 68 heads of state. The UK was represented by the grandson of World War II leader British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Nicholas Soames. A number of EU countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece came under US and/or EU pressure not to attend the Victory Day Parade, resulting in Czech President Miloš Zeman subsequently banning the US ambassador from functions at Prague Castle. A number of World War II veterans from the US and UK were present at the victory day celebrations as private attendees.

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Wikipedia