User:Pgabp/75th anniversary of the Great Victory in Russia

The Great Patriotic War started on the 22nd of June in 1941 and ended on the 9th of May in 1945. It has been 4 tough years, and now, since we celebrate the anniversary – it has already been 75 years since the day of 9th May –, 2020 is declared the year of The Great Victory. Here are some of them.

The Victory Day Parade
To begin with, despite the coronavirus, the annual parade on the Red Square was held, as always, but on the 24th of June this time, instead of the 9th of May. As for the event, more than 14 thousand military personnel took part in it, more than 200 units of ground equipment, and 75 aircraft and helicopters were involved. 356 veterans of the Great Patriotic War, including 156 living in foreign countries, were invited to the celebration as guests of honor. The parade was attended by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as one of the members of the Presidium of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A number of foreign leaders decided not to come to Moscow due to the situation with the COVID-19.

Rzhev Memorial Complex
Also, the memorial complex in memory of all the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War was installed on the 30th of June on the site of the bloody battles that took place near Rzhev in 1942-1943. It was created on the initiative of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, those who fought there. As for the monument, it is a 25-meter figure of a soldier who stands on a high fill mound near the M9 highway. The names of the fallen are immortalized on steel plates and in the multimedia exposition of the museum pavilion, which is a branch of the Victory Museum.

Unfortunately, because of the pandemic and the big number of sick people not so many Great Victory events took place this year, despite the anniversary. Surely, much more would have been done if the situation allowed.