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Putin joins online Immortal Regiment march from Kremlin office on Victory Day

Together with him, there were the portraits of his parents

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the nationwide Immortal Regiment march, which was held online this year over the coronavirus pandemic.

The head of state addressed the march’s participants from his Kremlin office. Together with him, there were the portraits of his parents: Vladimir Spiridonovich and Maria Ivanovna Putin.

Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin volunteered to the front in 1941 and defended the Nevsky pyatachok area near besieged Leningrad. He was heavily wounded in battle and awarded the "For Combat Merits," "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Victory over Germany" medals.

Maria Ivanovna Putin lived through the Leningrad siege and was awarded the "For the Defense of Leningrad" medal.

The Russian president addressed "those who by the call of their heart regularly take part in the Immortal Regiment march with the photographs and portraits of their family members and relatives who fought during the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War."

"Regardless of whether we march in one formation or stay at home as today - our heroes always remain with us in our heart. And this will always be and they will stay with us forever," Putin stressed.

The Russian leader also pledged that "we will still march across Red Square, paying tribute to our heroes."

Russia earlier postponed the military parade on Moscow’s Red Square over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Immortal Regiment movement was first launched in Tyumen in West Siberia in 2007 and was initially called "Victors’ Parade." It acquired its current name in 2012 in Tomsk, and in 2013 it involved 120 cities. The movement officially became nationwide in 2015.

By now, the Immortal Regiment march has spread beyond Russia.