Putin tells Red Square parade that Nazi ideas persist

Moscow, May 09 (AP):
Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe with a speech warning that Nazi beliefs remain strong.
Speaking to the annual military parade on Moscow’s Red Square, Putin on Sunday decried attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands lies the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people .
Unfortunately, many of the ideologies of the Nazis, those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusiveness, are again trying to be put into service, he said, without citing specifics.
The parade, whose format varies little from year to year, included more than 190 military vehicles traversing the square, ranging from the renowned WWII-era T-34 tank to the hulking eight-axle Yars mobile ICBM launchers.
The anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat, which Russia calls Victory Day, is the country’s most significant secular holiday. commemorating the Red Army’s military feats and the vast suffering of civilians. About 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians are estimated to have died in the war
Victory Day parades, which only became an annual event after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, also took place Sunday in dozens of cities across the nation.
The public holiday is central to the Russian calendar, with a survey this week by state-run pollster VTsIOM showing that 69 percent of Russians view it as the country’s most important.
A third of respondents told VTsIOM they would take part in the celebrations, while a fifth said they would watch on television.
During Putin’s two decades in power, the holiday has taken on increasing importance in projecting Russia’s renewed military might.
“The Soviet people kept their sacred oath, defended the homeland and freed the countries of Europe from the black plague,” the Russian leader said Sunday.

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