NOVO-OGARYOVO, May 26. /TASS/: Russia will hold on June 24 military parades on Moscow’s Red Square and in other cities across the country to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday during a session with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The Russian president announced a decision on April 16 to postpone the Victory Day Parade, which is held annually on May 9, because the preparations for it could not be carried out amid the coronavirus spread. Putin pledged that the Victory Day would be celebrated in Russia later this year.
"I command to start preparations for holding military parades in the capital of Russia and in other cities to mark the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War," Putin said adding that the date for the military parades is June 24.
"It will be on June 24, which is the day when in 1945 the legendary historic parade of victors took place, when soldiers, who fought for Moscow and defended Leningrad and Stalingrad, liberated Europe and stormed Berlin, marched on Red Square," the Russian president said.
The Moscow parade on June 24, 1945 was the largest and longest military parade ever held on Red Square. It involved over 40,000 Soviet troops and over 1,850 military hardware.
Putin ordered Shoigu to exclude all possible risks threatening the health of the parade participants.
"I order you to provide the most stringent requirements regarding the safety measures during the preparations for and the organization of the parade," the president said. "Possible risks for all participants must be minimal or excluded at all."
The president said he made the decision taking into account the fact that the situation in the majority of Russian regions and in the Armed Forces became stable after surpassing the climax of the outbreak.
Putin also stated it was important that "during all these difficult weeks and months, the Russian Armed Forces carried on with the combat training and continued coping with the extremely important tasks of the Russian national defense, while the personnel and this year’s conscripts were maximally protected from the threat of the infection’s spread due to preventive measures, which were put in place in advance."
COVID-19
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 5,601,800 people have been infected worldwide and more than 348,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 2,381,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
To date, a total of 362,342 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 131,129 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 3,807 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
