May 9 is not just a holiday, it is one of the great days, revered not only in Russia, but also in many other countries of the world affected by the invaders. Victory Day is a holiday that is important for every family and every citizen. It is difficult to find a person who would not be touched in any way by a terrible war that claimed the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians. This date will never be erased from history, it will remain forever in the calendar, and will always remind you of those terrible events and the great defeat of the fascist troops, which ended hell.
History of May 9 in the USSR
The first ever Victory Day was celebrated in 1945. Exactly at 6 am, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on designating May 9 as Victory Day and assigning it the status of a day off was solemnly read out over all loudspeakers of the country.
That evening, the Victory Salute was given in Moscow - a grandiose spectacle for those times - thousands of anti-aircraft guns fired 30 victorious volleys. The streets of the cities on the day the war ended were filled with jubilant people. They had fun, sang songs, embraced each other, kissed and cried with happiness and pain for those who did not live to see this long-awaited event.
The first Victory Day passed without a military parade, for the first time this solemn procession took place on Red Square only on June 24th. They prepared for it carefully and for a long time - for a month and a half. The following year, the parade became an integral attribute of the celebration.
However, the magnificent celebration of Victory Day lasted only for three years. Since 1948, in the country destroyed by the Nazi troops, the authorities considered it necessary to put the restoration of cities, factories, roads, educational institutions and agriculture in the first place. Allocate considerable funds from the budget for a magnificent celebration of the most important historical event and refused to give the workers an extra day off.
Leonid Brezhnev made his contribution to the return of Victory Day - in 1965, on the twentieth anniversary Great Victory, in the USSR calendar on May 9, again turned red. This important memorable day was declared a holiday. Military parades and fireworks resumed in all hero cities. Veterans - those who forged victory on the battlefield and behind enemy lines - enjoyed special honor and respect on the holiday. Participants in the war were invited to schools, to higher educational establishments, they organized meetings with them at the factories and sincerely congratulated them on the streets with words, flowers and warm hugs.
Victory Day in modern Russia
AT new Russia Victory Day remained a great holiday. On this day, citizens of all ages, without compulsion, go to monuments and memorials in an endless stream, laying flowers and wreaths on them. The squares and concert venues host performances by famous and amateur artists, mass festivities last from morning until late at night.
By tradition, military parades are held in hero cities. And in the evenings, the sky lights up with festive fireworks and modern fireworks. A new attribute on May 9 has become George Ribbon- a symbol of heroism, courage and courage. Ribbons were distributed for the first time in 2005. Since then, on the eve of the holiday, they have been distributed free of charge in public places, shops, educational institutions. Each participant proudly wears a striped ribbon on his chest, paying tribute to the memory of those who died for the Victory and peace on earth.
Festive events on the occasion May 9 in Moscow started the day before, but the main events will take place today. How to spend this holiday and where to go in the capital? We have compiled for you a small program of the most important and interesting events.
Parade on Red Square
The most important event on Victory Day on May 9, 2018 will be a military parade on Red Square. More than 12 thousand people and 120 units of military equipment will take part in this solemn parade. Among them will be presented vehicles "Tigr", armored personnel carriers, missile systems, "Iskander-M", S-400 and many of the best Russian tanks. The parade will end with an air show, where 73 helicopters and aircraft, including the latest Su-57 fighter, will take to the skies.
By the way, the victory parade can also be watched from large screens that will be installed on the square of three stations, on Poklonnaya Hill and several other important celebration sites.
"Immortal Regiment"
The action “Immortal Regiment”, which has already become a tradition, will again be held in Moscow. It is dedicated to the memory of relatives and friends of all people who lost someone in the war. The procession will start at 15:00 from the Dynamo metro station along Leningradsky Prospekt and end on Red Square. People will gather from 13:00. All marchers bring with them portraits of their loved ones who gave their lives for the sake of the free future of the Motherland.
The main venues for celebrating Victory Day
In addition to the main events, Moscow will also host many other venues with concerts, entertainment programs, performances and much more.
On Theater Square from 19:00 to 22:00, veterans will enjoy an entertainment program with an orchestra and songs of the war years. Also, a large concert of military songs will be held on the square in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. At 20:00 on Tverskaya Zastava Square near the Belorussky railway station there will be a concert "Songs of Victory" performed by the "Turetsky Choir", as well as the Soprano group.
moment of silence
A moment of silence will be announced at 18:55. At this time, it is proposed to silently remember those who died defending their homeland.
Fireworks in honor of Victory Day
Of course, the holiday will end with a solemn fireworks display. According to the Ministry of Defense, five thousand fireworks will light up the sky of Moscow on May 9. Holiday lights will be 550 colors and shades. Fireworks will open at a height of 350 meters. To launch fireworks and salutes, four caliber installations will be used - 105 mm, 125 mm, 195 mm and 310 mm. Moreover, on Poklonnaya Gora, on one of the salute sites, ZiS-3 guns from the Great Patriotic War will be used, which, as the military says, will “provide noise support” to complete the effect.
Mikhail Terentiev
This year, several hundred festive events will take place in Moscow on Victory Day. In order not to get confused in them, "MIR 24" talks about the most important ones. May 9 will be held in the capital not only solemnly, but also very sincerely. The organizers tried to recreate at all venues the atmosphere of jubilation that reigned in the city in May 1945. An extensive festive program awaits Muscovites and guests of the capital.
The main event, of course, will be large-scale military parade on Red Square, which will start at 10:00. solemn march about 12,000 people and more than 120 military vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, missile and missile-gun systems, tracked vehicles and even combat robotic systems, will pass through the main square of the country. The parade will end aviation show. By the way, it will be perfectly visible from many sites in Moscow, including Sofiyskaya and Kremlin embankments, the square near the Belorussky railway station, Vorobyovy Gory, Moscow City, as well as Leningradskoye Highway and Gorky Park.
From 13:00 festive events will begin at the main venues of the city, including Triumfalnaya and Pushkinskaya squares, the square in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Poklonnaya Gora, Theater Square, the square in front of the main entrance to VDNKh, Tverskaya and Arbat streets, as well as Gogolevsky, Nikitsky and Chistoprudny boulevards. They will include concerts of songs of the war years, performances by symphony orchestras, literary, theatrical and musical programs, honoring veterans. The main goal of the organizers is to unite everyone with memories of the very jubilant joy that the news of the Great Victory brought.
AT 15.00, simultaneously with the work of the festive venues, a touching nationwide action "Immortal Regiment". More than 700 thousand Muscovites with photographs of their relatives who died in the war will walk from the Dynamo metro station along Leningradsky Prospekt, 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, Tverskaya Street, Manezhnaya Square and Red Square.
On Victory Day All military museums in Moscow will be open. It will be free to visit the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia and its branches, including the Museum of Victory on Poklonnaya Hill, the Moscow Defense Museum and the Museum of Heroes Soviet Union and Russia. On the Arbat, Nikitsky, Gogolevsky and Chistoprudny Boulevards, open-air photo exhibitions will open. There you can see archival photographs of the war years, footage of military chronicles and photos taken by war correspondents.
Concerts and other festive events with songs, theatrical performances, performances and dances will also be held in all Moscow parks decorated for Victory Day post-war years. Support the festive atmosphere Balloons, ice cream and blooming lilacs, which will become the main markers of Victory Day throughout the country.
At 18:55 all festive venues throughout Moscow will interrupt their work, because at this time the entire capital will honor the memory of the fallen soldiers a moment of silence.
After that, evening concerts will begin at all festive venues in the city, and Victory Day will end with a big festive fireworks at 22.00.
