MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Moscow’s Alexander Gardens on Wednesday - the day of the 75th anniversary of the Nazi Germany’s attack on the USSR. The traditional ceremony at the Kremlin wall with the participation of the head of state is timed to the Day of Memory and Grief.

The Guard of Honor soldiers placed the wreath at the memorial, after which Putin straightened the ribbons on it and bowed his head in memory of millions of people who were killed in the Great Patriotic War (of the USSR against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945). Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and other senior officials also attended the memorial ceremony.

The event ended with a solemn march of the Moscow Garrison, representing three branches of the Armed Forces - the Ground Forces, the Aerospace Force and the Navy.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, the Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without war declaration. On the first day of the war, thousands of the Red Army soldiers and civilians were killed, 1,200 warplanes, tanks and artillery pieces were destroyed. According to the latest official data, more than 26 million Soviet citizens and soldiers were killed in the war.

On October 25, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed amendments to the Law "On the Days of Military Glory and Anniversaries of Russia." New date - June 22 - the Day of Memory and Grief, the day of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, was included in the list of memorable dates.