MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march in Moscow to commemorate those who fought or died in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945.
Putin took part in the 'Immortal Regiment' march for the fifth time, carrying the portrait of this father.
Along with Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic took part in the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march.
Putin stressed the importance of this action during his speech at the military parade held in Red Square earlier on Wednesday to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
"May 9 unites all the generations by the history of courage. Each family has its own heroes among its relatives and they live in our hearts and are together with us in the ranks of the Immortal Regiment," Putin stressed.
For Putin, like for an absolute majority of Russians, the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 is a part of his family’s history.
As Putin used to recall, his father, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, went immediately to the front after the war broke out where he fought and was heavily wounded near blockaded Leningrad.
The head of the Russian state also frequently recalls his mother, Maria Ivanovna, who lived through the Leningrad blockade, and his senior brother who died from diphtheria in 1942. Vladimir Putin was born seven years after the Victory.
The Immortal Regiment movement was first launched in Tyumen in 2007 and was initially called "Victors’ Parade." It acquired its current name in 2012 in Tomsk, and in 2013 it involved 120 cities. In 2014, residents from about 500 cities in seven countries crowded streets carrying portraits of their relatives who fought in World War II (the Great Patriotic War).
The movement officially became nationwide in 2015. According to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 96% of Russian citizens - a lot of young people among them - like the idea of the Immortal Regiment. The Immortal Regiment is taking place in many countries now.
About a million people are taking part in the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march in Moscow.