In a speech in Red Square, Putin paid tribute to those who died in the conflict and in Nazi concentration camps before holding a moment of silence. Victory Day, marking the day that Germany surrendered to the Soviets in 1945, is a major holiday in Russia. North Korean state media reported Saturday that the country had carried out a successful underwater test of a ballistic missile.

It also annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region a little over a year ago.Īlso absent was North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who had been expected to attend until Moscow announced 10 days ago that “domestic affairs” would instead keep him at home. Moscow is accused by Kiev and the West of backing and equipping pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Many Western leaders have chosen to miss the event, however, in protest of Russia’s alleged military involvement in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Presidents including China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Pranab Mukherjee and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro joined their Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow’s Red Square for the parade. This is expected to be the last major anniversary of the conflict when significant numbers of World War II veterans are still alive to take part. Russia marked 70 years since the victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday with a spectacular parade in Moscow featuring some 16,000 soldiers, 200 armored vehicles and 150 planes and helicopters.

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