OTTAWA, May 10. /TASS/. Over 2,000 people took part in the Immortal Regiment international event, in Montreal on Thursday, Victoria Hristova, an activist of the Russian World of Montreal compatriots association, told TASS. This was the fifth time that the campaign was held in the center of the capital of Quebec Province.
"More than 2,000 people took part in the march, but perhaps someone could not come to us because of the rain," she said.
According to Hristova, before the march, a small concert was held, and then the column passed along the Saint-Catherine Street to Dorchester Square. Cars carrying flags of Victory, Russia, the USSR and all former republics of the Soviet Union were riding ahead of the procession.
"This year, eight veterans of the Great Patriotic War came to the Immortal Regiment," Hristova said. She noted that the safety of the procession was ensured by the city police and the action ended without incident.
During the march, a plane flew over the central part of the city with a giant banner showing St. George ribbon and congratulations on Victory Day.
"Next year, when the 75th anniversary of the Victory is celebrated, we want to stage a bigger action, by holding a procession and a big holiday concert," Hristova said.
The idea of ‘Immortal Regiment’ campaign was born in the Russian Siberian city of Tyumen in 2007. Initially, 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 officially become a nationwide event. The same year it was held for the first time in the Canadian cities of Toronto (Ontario) and Montreal.