So, we’ve seen the public parades and celebrations, the cheers for the military and words of thanks and flowers presented to veterans. But what does all this look like from inside the Kremlin? That’s what we’ll explore now on in this story of the Mendeleyev Journal.
More than 10,500 Russian soldiers marched for the first time alongside troops from the United States, France, Britain and Poland to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Victory Day celebration included 25 foreign leaders who joined President Dmitry Medvedev in the stands to watch the procession on Red Square.
Arriving in Moscow Saturday to participate in Moscow’s 65th Anniversary celebration of Victory Day was President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. In a message relayed back to the Urkainian people, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stressed:
“I am confident the peoples of Russia and Ukraine will always cherish and remember our heroic history, preserve and promote our shared spiritual and cultural heritage, and give a fitting rebuff to irresponsible politicians who are trying to bury and distort our past.”
Before dawn in Moscow, still hours to parade countdown on Red Square and thousands upon thousands of Moscow’s 12 million residents were stiring around, soon to swell across China Town, Manezh Plaza, Plaza of the Revolution and do a battle of their own, finding a place to enjoy the celebration. Some skipped Red Square and headed for Park Pobedy (Victory Park) where the festivities moved from the centre of Moscow up to Victory Park.
From Russia Today TV:
Museums are paying their tribute to the victory in WWII. Exhibitions dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany can bee seen in almost all major Moscow’s museums.
The State Historical Museum devoted its exhibition to the same event. Among its exhibits – flags of the Soviet participants of the Victory Parade and the trophy enemy flags that were being thrown on Lenin’s Mausoleum, Stalin’s coat that he wore while reviewing the troops, and Zhukov’s uniform jacket, which he was wearing at the moment the German Instrument of Surrender was signed.
The Kremlin Museums are showing their recent acquisition in the Armoury Chamber – seven Victory Awards that used to belong particularly to Joseph Stalin and Georgy Zhukov. Apart from these, the display entitled “Symbols of the Victory” features other rare and well-known awards, such as Suvorov’s and Nakhimov’s Awards of the 1st Degree.
Just after 9am, less than an hour before the start of the 65th Victory parade, there was a breeze with clear skies and sunshine. Forecasters prediced that the rain would stay away until tomorrow. The high temperature was re-forecasted at 4 degrees lower than previously projected.
The monument was unveiled by Hero of Russia Vyacheslav Sipko and twice Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Odintsov in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The ceremony was attended by veterans from Russia and CIS countries as well as students from the cadet corps. Meanwhile an amazing mass of flowers was accumulating all day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Могила Неизвестного Солдата) is dedicated to the soldiers killed during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. It is located at the Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden in Moscow.
Next came the first of several official photography sessions with heads of state who were in Moscow to take part in celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Victory over the Nazi invading forces.
Today Russia still has no official count, person for person, of it’s war dead, lagging far behind most modern societies in this respect. President Medvedev has made it a priority to find, identify, and properly bury the war dead from 65 years ago.
As the parade was ready to begin at 10am, President Medvedev addressed the participants and guests, saying that the victory in 1945 was not only a military but also a moral victory. All of the Soviet Union’s peoples fought for it, and the allies helped to bring it closer.
Sixty-five years ago Nazism was vanquished. The machine that was wiping off whole nations was stopped. Peace returned to our country and to Europe as a whole. An end was put to the ideology that was destroying the fundamentals of civilization.
The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the Fascist attack as they threw in three quarters of their troops to the Eastern Front. They wanted to scorch our land, but instead they met with resistance unparalleled in courage and strength.
The defence of Moscow and Leningrad, the battle of Stalingrad, the battle of Kursk also known as the Kursk Bulge – these are not just the stages of that war. These are blood and tears, the anguish of defeat and the triumph of victory, wounds and the death of comrades-in-arms. And there was only one choice – either conquer the enemy or become slaves.
This war has made us a strong nation. Every day, every hour, every minute people made decisions, both in battlefields and in the rear. And this particular feeling – being personally responsible for the fate of the country – our veterans have carried through their whole lives.
They have taught us the main lesson. They have attained freedom.
Time is very powerful, but not as powerful as human memory, our memory. We shall never forget soldiers who fought on fronts. Women, who replaced men in factories. Children, who suffered from ordeals inconceivable for their age. All of them are heroes of the war.
The victory in 1945 was not only a military but also a great moral victory. A common victory. All of the Soviet Union’s peoples fought for it, and our allies helped to bring it closer. And today troops from Russia, the CIS countries and our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition will march together triumphantly. March in a single formation as a proof ofour common desire to defend peace and never to allow any revision of the outcomes of war, never to let any new tragedies happen.
The war has taken tens of millions of lives. Lives of people from many countries, people of different ages, nationalities and confessions. In Russia almost every family has suffered from the atrocities of war with family members or relatives either killed or missing, starving from hunger during the siege of Leningrad or killed in concentration camps. That cannot be tolerated. That cannot be forgotten. Memory is eternal.
Dear friends, The lessons of World War II call us to solidarity. The world is still fragile, and we should remember that wars do not start in a flash. The evil gains its strength if we shrink back or try to ignore it.
Only together can we counteract modern threats. Only based on the principles of good-neighbourliness can we resolve issues of global security so that ideals of justice and of the good can triumph in the whole world and life of future generations can be free and happy.
Dear veterans, Sixty-five years ago you won peace for our country and for the whole world. You have given us the most precious gift – an opportunity to live. We bow our heads in respect for you.
I congratulate you on the holiday! I congratulate you on the Victory Day!
All Honour to the winners! Hurrah!
Heads of state from the CIS countries, Europe, and countries that took part in the anti-Nazi coalition came to Moscow to take part in the 65th anniversary celebrations.
The low key figure in this year’s Victory Day proceedings was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. What a change from 2009 when he and Mr Medvedev were practically “twins” and seen together at every part of the day.
Troops from four Nato countries marched for the first time in Russia’s annual parade to mark victory in WWII. Soldiers from Britain, France, Poland and the US marched alongside Russian troops through Moscow’s Red Square.
The presence of foreign troops in Red Square – once the heart of the Soviet Union – was a highly symbolic gesture, demonstrating that Russia is willing to set aside the rivalry of the Cold War.
France was represented at the parade by the Normandie-Niemen squadron; the US by a detachment from the 2nd Battalion, 18th Regiment; and Poland by 75 service personnel representing the Polish army, air force and navy. Britain was represented by 76 soldiers from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, wearing bright red tunics and tall bearskin caps.
President Medvedev greeted and thanked Great Patriotic War veterans who attended the Kremlin reception.
Also attending the reception were the various foreign heads of state who had come to Moscow to take part in the 65th anniversary celebrations.
Парк Победы (“Park Pobedy” means Victory Park) becomes the centre of Moscow’s celebrations, with thousands of citizens, from surviving veterans to families with children wind their way to Victory Park after the parade on Red Square. Old men and women wearing uniforms and medals awarded for their contributions to the war effort receive flowers and expressions of thanks from Russians of all ages.
Park Pobedy is easily accessed by traveling to the Metro Station bearing the same name.
The Mendeleyev Journal - Live From Moscow 
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