With Xi at his side, Putin marks WW2 victory as Ukraine war grinds on

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

- REUTERS

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 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 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.”