Won't React to Russian War Crimes Tribunal Announcement

World War II is one of the few events in Russia's divisive history under Communist rule that all political groups revere—sentiment the Kremlin uses to fuel national pride

- Reuters

MOSCOW: Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on Friday with a major military parade that went off without any reports of Ukrainian attacks despite three years of devastating war.

President Vladimir Putin, the longest-serving Kremlin chief since Josef Stalin, stood beside China's Xi Jinping, several dozen other leaders and Russian veterans on a roofed tribune beside Lenin's mausoleum as Russian troops marched past.

Putin said Russia would never accept attempts to belittle the Soviet Union's decisive role in defeating Nazi Germany, but that Moscow also recognized the part played by the Western allies in defeating Adolf Hitler.

"The Soviet Union took upon itself the most ferocious, merciless blows of the enemy," Putin said. "We highly appreciate the contribution of the soldiers of the Allied armies, the members of the resistance, the courageous people of China, and all those who fought for a peaceful future to our common struggle."

Putin made no criticism of the West and referred only in passing to the Ukraine war, Europe's deadliest since World War Two, but it haunted the celebration.

More than 11,500 troops were lined up in ranks on Red Square, including 1,500 who have fought in Ukraine.

Drones - the biggest technological innovation of the war - were paraded for the first time, as well as tanks and intercontinental Yars missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.