Putin, Xi mark victory in WWII

RUSSIA marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II yesterday with a parade attended by China's Xi Jinping amid tight security to guard against Ukrainian attacks after three years of devastating war.

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President Vladimir Putin, the long-est-serving Kremlin chief since Josef Stalin, stood beside Xi, several dozen other leaders and Russian veterans on a roofed tribune beside Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square 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 recognised 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 shall always remember that the opening of the Second Front in Europe after the decisive battles on the territory of the Soviet Union brought victory closer.

"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."

The war in Ukraine, Europe's deadliest since World War II, haunts the celebration.