Xi attends Russia’s Victory Day celebrations

Following an intensive program of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 8, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the grand parade marking the 80^th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany on May 9 in Red Square as the chief guest of honour.

Joining the Chinese and Russian presidents were the national leaders of 26 other countries, as follows:

• Abkhazia
• Armenia
• Belarus
• Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Burkina Faso
• Republic of Congo
• Cuba
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• Ethiopia
• Guinea Bissau
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Palestine
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• South Ossetia
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Zimbabwe

Additionally, high level representatives came from a number of other countries, including India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, and South Africa, as well as from international organisations.

The leader of Laos had to cancel his planned visit after succumbing to a serious COVID infection.

Military units from a number of countries also took part in the parade namely:

Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States who participated in the Great Patriotic War as constituent republics of the Soviet Union:

• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan

Friendly Countries:

• China
• Vietnam
• Laos
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Egypt

The largest contingent of troops was sent by China.

Additionally, following the parade, Vladimir Putin met with a group of military officers from the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) who had taken part in the recent battles to liberate Kursk from Ukrainian aggression.

In his speech at the parade, President Putin said:

“Today, we are all united by the feelings of joy and grief, pride and gratitude, and admiration for the generation that crushed Nazism and won freedom and peace for all humanity at the cost of millions of lives.

“We remember the lessons of World War II and will never agree with the distortion of those events or attempts to justify the murderers and slander the true victors.

“Our duty is to defend the honour of the Red Army soldiers and commanders, and the heroism of fighters of different ethnic backgrounds who will forever remain Russian soldiers in world history.

“Russia has been and will continue to be an indestructible obstacle to Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism, and will stand in the way of the violence perpetrated by the champions of these aggressive and destructive ideas.

“Truth and justice are on our side. The whole of Russia, our society and all people support the participants in the special military operation. We are proud of their courage and spirit, and their steely determination that has always brought us victory.

“The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the enemy’s most savage and relentless assaults. Millions of people, once devoted solely to peaceful labour, took up arms and stood firm to the death on every hill, bridgehead, and defensive line. The outcome of the Second World War was determined by decisive victories in major battles of Moscow and Stalingrad, on the Kursk Bulge and the Dnieper River, by the courage of the defenders of Belarus, who were the first to face the invader, by staunch resistance at the Brest Fortress and in Mogilev, Odessa, Sevastopol, Murmansk, Tula and Smolensk, by the heroism of the residents of besieged Leningrad, by the bravery of all those who fought on the front lines, in partisan units, and in the underground resistance, as well as by the selfless efforts of those who evacuated plants and factories under enemy fire, and who worked on the home front, giving everything they had, working to the limits of their ability.

“The Nazis’ plans to conquer the Soviet Union were shattered by the unshakable unity of the nation. The heroism of the Soviet people was common, and every republic shouldered the shared, immense burden of war.

“The contribution of the peoples of Central Asia and the South Caucasus was immense. From these regions came a steady flow of trains delivering everything the front needed. Hospitals were established, and hundreds of thousands of evacuees found a second home there. They were offered shelter, food, and heartfelt compassion.”

He added:

“The complete defeat of Nazi Germany, militarist Japan and their satellites around the world was achieved through the combined efforts of the Allied Nations.

“We will never forget that the opening of the Second Front in Europe, which took place after the decisive battles in the territory of the Soviet Union, hastened Victory. We highly appreciate the contribution made to our common struggle by the Allied armies, members of the Resistance, the courageous people of China, and all those who fought for a peaceful future.”

The previous evening, at a dinner for the visiting heads of delegations, the Russian President said:

“May 9 is a sacred day for our multinational people. The Soviet Union played a decisive role in defeating Nazism. It is a historical truth which nobody can hush, distort or take away from us.

“Neither will we forget our allies and comrades in that sacred battle, and the fact that Victory was brought about by the concerted efforts of the people of Europe, the United States, Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific region, the fortitude and courage of the armed forces of the anti-Hitler coalition, members of the Resistance and national liberation movements, partisans and members of the underground.

“The celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Moscow have brought together the leaders of a wide variety of sovereign states with different models of political, economic and social development, different religions, world outlooks, civilisations and cultures.

“However, this diversity is not a dividing but an enriching factor, which makes us stronger because our relations and cooperation are based on shared values and aspirations. We stand for justice and equality, for the triumph of the noble ideals of friendship and neighbourly relations, for mutual accord and respect, for taking all opinions and interests into account, and for equal and indivisible security for all. We call on the international community to show solidarity in addressing the current acute problems, and to assume joint responsibility to our future generations.”

And at a gala reception on May 9, he said:

“The event marking Victory Day has invaluable significance for the world. But in Russia and the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States it is part of the history of virtually every family. This direct bond determines our particularly warm attitude to this holiday and our position of principle regarding truth about the Great Patriotic War and its heroes, our predecessors, who have come through and withstood extreme challenges and achieved Victory.

“I am confident that these feelings are shared by those whose relatives fought against Nazism and militarism, for freedom in Europe and the Atlantic region, in the Pacific Ocean, in Asia, Africa and everywhere where the Second World War battles raged. We in Russia remember the equipment and food we received. We bow before that great generation, no matter where they live and what language they may speak now. They will forever remain part of our family. We are one big family of the victors.

“We know how vitally important solidarity and support — support from our allies, friends and comrades-in-arms — was for the fighting people of the Soviet Union. We will forever remain grateful to all our friends and comrades.

“I consider it important that today we have come together to celebrate the anniversary of the Great Victory and remember those who gave all their strength for the freedom of their native land and the entire world, those who sacrificed themselves in the name of saving humanity.

“As time takes us further away from the events of World War Two, it becomes all the more important for us to preserve the values that were upheld by the Great Victory and to pass to future generations the truth of how and in the name of what it was won, as well as our conviction that solidarity of the people in their support of the ideals of peace, freedom and justice is of unlimited power. Our commitment to this is growing ever stronger.”

Earlier, on May 7, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev presided over a military parade in the capital Astana. The guest of honour was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam, who was on the first leg of a regional tour that also took him to Azerbaijan, Russia and Belarus.

A military parade was also held in the Belarus capital Minsk on May 9, following the one in Moscow, enabling President Aleksandr Lukashenko to attend both events.

Speaking at the Minsk parade, Lukashenko said:

“It is a victory secured by valiant warriors: soldiers of the Red Army, partisans, underground resistance fighters, homefront workers, and the entire Soviet nation – a nation that freed the world from Nazism.

“We honour the memory of the heroes, who broke the military might of Hitler’s Germany, which had gathered millions of European Nazis under its banners.

“Our nation demonstrated a never-before-seen will to win. No one in Europe had managed to resist the Wehrmacht the way our nation, our state – the Soviet Union – did.

“About 1.3 million Belarus’ natives fought in the ranks of the Red Army. Nearly 500 became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

“About one million partisans fought behind enemy lines. Over 800,000 partisans and underground resistance fighters operated in the republic.

“Over the years of the occupation our land fostered a nationwide resistance movement. No other country in the world had such a massive, multiethnic movement of partisans and underground resistance fighters.

“Representatives of over 70 nations and ethnicities fought like brothers in the same ranks with us.”

Military contingents from China and Russia also took part in the parade in Minsk, along with those from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. 

Following their participation in the Moscow commemoration, the leaders of Vietnam and Zimbabwe also visited Belarus while the leader of Guinea Bissau visited en route to Moscow.

Also on May 9, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un visited the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang and delivered a speech. He said:

“In the do-or-die struggle fought in the 40s last century against brigandish fascism that was ruthlessly violating the destiny of mankind, the Soviet army and people, by courageously overcoming all the unimaginable trials and pains, performed great, historic feats of firmly defending the sovereignty and safety of their motherland and saving the peace of this planet and human civilisation.

“In the grimmest years they defended at the cost of blood not only the dignity and sovereignty of their country but also global peace and security, put the dangerous current of world politics to rights and brought an epochal victory to mankind. These are the immortal feats the wartime generation of Russia performed and herein lies the special and eternal historic significance of the feats which nothing can tar or cover up.

“Had great Russia not destroyed fascist Germany, a brutal empire of evil, at the cost of the lives of tens of millions of people, there would not have been modern civilisation nor our happy life of today.

“Furthermore, had there not been May 9, V-day for Russia, there would not have been August 15, liberation day for Korea and the rest of the Eastern countries, and the historical course the Korean people have traversed would have been thornier and more arduous.”

The following article was originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

We also embed the video of the parade in Red Square.