Progressive sections across Europe marked the 76th Victory Day commemorating the anniversary of the defeat and surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Red Army at the end of World War II. In Moscow, under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), people laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin wall and at the monument to Marshal of Victory Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the CPRF was not permitted by the authorities to hold the traditional rallies and meetings.
Following the official Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Tajik president Emomali Rahmon attended the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, demonstrators unveiled a 1,000-foot brown-and-orange banner – the colors of the Ribbon of St George or Guards Ribbon, awarded to Soviet veterans of World War II.
In Russia and many of the erstwhile Soviet Republics, May 9 is observed as the Victory Day which is also a holiday in these countries. It was late night on May 8 (May 9 according to Russian time), 1945, that Nazi Germany signed the final German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin,. Several other European countries officially commemorate Victory Day annually on May 8.
In Germany, communist parties and anti-fascist sections organized nationwide mobilizations and gatherings on May 8 to celebrate liberation from Nazi rule. The demonstrators also protested against the spike in police violence, surveillance and racism across Germany. The Berlin committee of the German Communist Party (DKP) stated, “the fundamental shift in the course of the Second World War in favor of the anti-fascist coalition was achieved by the Red Army at a time when the governments of the United States and Great Britain were practicing their strategy of so-called indirect actions, deliberately delaying the establishment of the second front in Europe and with it their obligations injured as allies.”
Commemorative events were also organized in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Belarus, Slovakia, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus and Austria on May 8-9 to mark the victory over the Nazism.
While addressing the official parade in Moscow, Putin warned against attempts to rewrite history and the rise of fascist and neo-Nazi parties in eastern Europe.
