Moscow Victory Day Parade
Updated: Wikipedia source
The Moscow Victory Day Parade (Russian: Парад Победы в Москве, romanized: Parad Pobedy v Moskve) is an annual military parade of the Russian Armed Forces on Moscow's Red Square on 9 May during the Victory Day celebrations. The most important parade of those being held on 9 May is the one held on Moscow's Red Square, with the President of Russia as the guest of honor and keynote speaker in virtue of his constitutional mandate as Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces. The parade is a commemoration of the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Red Army, marking the end of the Eastern Front of World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. According to anthropologist Sergey Ushakin, modern victory parades are intended to demonstrate the direct and immediate connection of the present with the past and to materialize the connection between generations. Long time parade commander Oleg Salyukov described them as a "celebration for people, not show of militarism" referring to accusations of the parade being used as show of Russian military might.