俄罗斯正在纪念战胜二战时期纳粹德国69周年。就往年一样，大型的阅兵仪式在莫斯科红场举行。
Russia is marking the 69th anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two. As happens every year, a huge military parade is being held at Red Square in Moscow, to mark Russia’s Victory Day. Now let’s go live to the parade.
Since the end of the Second World War in 1945, Russia has held a military parade at Moscow’s Red Square on May the 9th, every year, apart from 4 years in the early 1990s.
At these parades, the country displays an array of its advanced weaponry.
This year’s event will feature a total of 69 warplanes and helicopters, 149 military vehicles and over 11 thousand troops to showcase Russia’s military capabilities.
The only time when no parade was held was from 1991 to 1994, due to collapse of the Soviet union and the economic recession which followed.
The Soviet union formally announced victory over Nazi Germany on May the 9th, 1945, following the signing of a surrender document in Berlin.
The first military parade at Moscow’s Red Square took place just 6 weeks later, by order of then Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
2005 saw grand celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the war.
Heavy weaponry that had not been seen since the collapse of the Soviet union was on show again in 2008, just two days after Dmitry Medvedev took office as President.
2010 saw the biggest display of Russia’s military hardware in 20 years, to mark the 65th anniversary. Some 160 modern military vehicles and more than 11 thousand troops took part in the march.
And in 2013, the Russian air force became one of the highlights of the parade, with a flyover by 68 planes to mark the 68th anniversary. Russia’s Su-34 fighter jet also made its debut in the parade.
