User:SlyCrab/sandbox

75th Anniversary of the Great Victory The 9th of May of the year 2020 is the 75th Anniversary of the Great Victory and end of the Great Patriotic war and World War II. With intentions of inspiring a patriotic spirit and preserving historical memory, president of Russia Vladimir Putin had declared 2020 “the year of memory and glory” in Russia. In many countries (mainly CIS members) massive celebrations have been planned. However, due to COVID-19 outbreak, to avoid risk of spreading the infection, annual military parade in Moscow’s Red Square had to be postponed and took place on 24th of June 2020. More than 14 thousand soldiers, 234 vehicles and 75 planes and helicopters took part in the parade. The plans of having troops from different foreign countries (namely from China, United States, France, the United Kingdom, India and many more) participate in the ceremony had to be scratched because of the ongoing pandemic. A lot of guests attended the parade, including President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania, President of Belarus Aleksander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and many others. Some heads of state who originally accepted the invitation, but ended up being unable to attend the parade, sent their ambassadors instead. On 30th of June 2020, a public ceremony dedicated to an opening of the Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier was held. The memorial and surrounding park are dedicated to eternalizing the memory of the soldiers, who have died in the Battles of Rzhev, which took place in 1942-1943. The monument itself is a 25-metre tall bronze statue portraying a Red Army Soldier, whose lower part of the body is turning into flying cranes. The ceremony was attended by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and by Red Army veterans.