MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. The ‘Immortal Regiment’ march has broken its previous record by bringing together more than one million people, Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Immortal Regiment march is ongoing in the center of the capital. As of 18.00 Moscow time, over one million Russians were taking part in it," she said.

The march is in full swing.

In 2017, about 850,000 people hit Moscow’s streets to honor their relatives who fought or died in World War II.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ march is an annual event held throughout Russia and in other countries. The event is dedicated to the victory in Great Patriotic War (or WWII) that claimed lives of about 28 million Soviet people, both soldiers and civilians. During the march, people carry portraits of their relatives who fought or died during the war.

The idea was born in the Russian Siberian city of Tyumen in 2007 and the march was called the Victors’ Parade. In 2012, another Siberian city of Tomsk picked up the torch renaming the rally as ‘Immortal Regiment.’ The next year, about 120 cities joined in. A year later, people carried portraits of their relatives, who fought during WWII, in 500 cities in seven countries. Since 2015, the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march has become a nationwide event.