Russia holds the parade of the day of the 80th anniversary victory on the Red Square

Friday morning, Russia held its 80th anniversary of the victory day with a large military exhibition on the Red Square, while President Vladimir Putin praised a range of world leaders in a demonstration of time of war and international support for more than three years in the large -scale invasion of Ukraine.

Nearly 30 world leaders assisted The celebrations in Moscow, which mark the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Among them, the Xi Jinping in China, the Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva of Brazil and Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, alongside the traditional allies of Russia in Central Asia.

Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and Robert Fico de Slovakia were the only European leaders present. Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan and Thongloun Sisoulith du Laos canceled their trips to Russia for the victory day at the last minute.

At the start of the parade, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov welcomed soldiers’ columns, Breaking with his predecessor Sergei Shoigu, who now heads the Security Council of Russia, attending the Red Square event with a civil suit and a tie.

An announcement at the start of the parade said more than 11,000 soldiers from the Ministry of Defense and other security services, including the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the National Guard, paraded in the parade. 1,500 other soldiers who fought in “the special military operation”, the official name of the Kremlin for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, made an appearance.

The soldiers of “Nations Friendly Nations” also participated in the event on Friday, although no North Korean soldier was paraded in the parade. However, after the main celebrationPutin met with North Korean officers and thanked them for their help in the fight against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region.

During his traditional speech of victory day, Putin criticized what he called attempts “to slander the real winners” of the Second World War, a possible reference to Ukrainian officials who criticized the annual Moscow parade, or even to the complaint of the American president Donald Trump earlier this week than America did more than “any other country to produce a victorious result”.

“Truth and justice are on our side. The whole country – our society, our people – stands behind those who participate in the special military operation,” added the Russian chief.

“We are proud of their courage and their determination, the strength of the spirit that has always brought us only victory,” said Putin. “Russia will remain an invincible defender against those who support Nazism, Russophobia and Anti -Semitism.”

In a nod to XI, Putin also underlined the role of China in the Second World War, saying: “We will always remember that the opening of the second front brought victory closer”, a reference to the second Sino-Japan war between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan.

Unlike previous years, the chief of the Kremlin dedicated little of his speech on Friday to the current war against Ukraine and avoided direct condemnations of the West. In his speech in 2024, for example, he criticized the “Western elites” for revanchism and “regional conflicts”.

After Putin’s speech, nearly 200 tanks, including the T-34 of the Second World War era, opened the mechanized section of the parade. Various types of armored vehicles, artillery, drones and infantry vehicles were also seen to roll in the Red Square, followed by an overview of hunting jets and bombers.

No high -ranking American official seemed to be present during the parade, as some had previously presented. The Kremlin had said that the United States ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy had been invited to attend, but he was not immediately clear if she accepted the invitation.

The 80th anniversary parade came after Putin unilaterally ordered a ceasefire from midnight from May 8 to 11 to coincide with the celebrations. Ukrainian officials rejected the proposal, calling a 30-day ceasefire in place initially proposed by the United States in March.

The two parties accused each other of having violated the temporary truce.

Despite the political screen polished in the Red Square, life in the Russian capital has been far from smooth in recent days. An unprecedented wave of Ukrainian drones during the night on Tuesday anchored flights and Disturbed air At Moscow airports, failing thousands of passengers.

The main internet breakdowns were also reported Throughout the week, city authorities increased security before victory day celebrations.

In addition, for the first time, restaurants and shops near the parade route were ordered to close, apparently due to the concerns they could be used as a staging ground for bombing. Since the large -scale invasion of Ukraine, the bomb attacks have struck Moscow several times, more recently in the assassination of the army general Yaroslav Moskalik on April 25.

In addition to Moscow, the cities of Russia organized their own parades from the Victory Day, notably Saint-Petersburg, Vladivostok, Ulan-Aude, Novosibirsk, Yakutsk, UFA, Kazan and others. In major cities, internet disruptions have been reported in the midst of celebrations.

In the southwest region of Belgorod, the authorities reported that the Ukrainian drone attacks against the regional government building, the May 9 commemorations were about to start. The events of the victory day would still take place despite the air attack, the authorities said.