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Putin declares day of Victory Parade on June 24 non-working day

Artillery salute will take place in Moscow and other cities at 22:00 local time

© Alexei Nikolskly/Russian president's press service/TASS

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on holding Victory Parades and artillery salute to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory over Nazism on June 24, which has been declared a non-working day.

"To mark the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and the June 24, 1945 Victory Parade, as a token of gratitude to those who defeated the fascist aggressors, paying tribute to the great exploit, heroism and self-sacrifice of the war veterans, I decree to hold military parades at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, on Red Square, and in other Russian cities," as follows from the document posted on the Kremlin website on Friday.

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Victory Day parade rehearsal to begin on June 8

Under the decree, June 24, 2020 has been declared a non-working day.

Apart from that, artillery salute will take place in Moscow and other cities at 22:00 local time.

The defense ministry has been instructed to prepare the parades.

The Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square that was to be held on May 9 was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the parade would be held on June 24, the day when the first Victory Parade took place in Moscow 75 years ago. Putin ordered Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu launch preparations for the parade and spare no effort to exclude any possible health risks for those who would take part in it.

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