May 9 means just one thing in Moscow. Victory Day. It’s one of the biggest celebrations in Russia. Moscow goes all out, every year. May 9 marks the date of Nazi Germany’s surrender to the Allied forces. The date is usually considered May 8, because that was the date in Berlin. It came into effect there at 11:01 PM, May 8, 1945. But over in Moscow, the clock had already struck midnight. The war officially ended at 12:01 AM, May 9. So, for Moscow, that is Victory Day.

Moscow’s first Victory Day parade didn’t take place on Victory Day itself. The Red Army was still making its way back home after all. Instead, the first parade took place on June 24, 1945. These parades weren’t initially an annual affair. After 1945, the next parade took place in 1965. 20 years later. Parade number three came 20 years after that, in 1985.

The gaps decreased after that. Moscow’s fourth Victory Day parade took place in 1990. Amid the impending collapse of the Soviet Union. And the one after that was in 1995. After the old Soviet State had disintegrated. And Russia was left in its place. That’s when the Russians decided to make the parades an annual affair. It was declared that Moscow’s Red Square would host the celebration every May 9.

The only exception so far has been 2020. The year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The pandemic delayed the parade, so the Russian’s held it on June 24 instead. Exactly 75 years after the first one.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Heads of State from all corners of the world are in Moscow to witness the celebrations. This includes China’s President, Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and reportedly the leaders of more than two dozen countries. But of course, no one from the West.

The West is firmly behind Ukraine in the ongoing war. So, Moscow is out of bounds. Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Western leaders have steered clear of Russia. Even the heads of countries that the Red Army once liberated from the Nazis. Their justification is that even though the Russians once helped free Europe, today, it is Moscow threatening to burn the continent down.

russia victory day

Why Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations are so controversial

russia victory day

Why Russia’s May 9 Victory Day celebrations are so controversial