This holiday is May 9th. Victory Day in modern Russia

Victory Day- a holiday of the victory of the people of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Celebrated May 9th. Non-working day in Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Transnistria, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and South Ossetia.
Story
The history of the Victory Day holiday has been going on since May 9, 1945, when in the suburbs of Berlin, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command, Field Marshal V. Keitel from the Wehrmacht, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the USSR Georgy Zhukov from the Red Army and Air Marshal of Great Britain A. Tedder from the Allies, signed an act of unconditional and complete surrender of the Wehrmacht.
Berlin was taken on May 2, but the German troops resisted the Red Army for more than a week before the fascist command, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, finally decided to surrender. But before that, Stalin signed a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR that from now on May 9 becomes a public holiday Victory Day and declared a holiday. At 6 o'clock in the morning Moscow time, this Decree was read out on the radio by the announcer Levitan. The first Victory Day was celebrated by people on the streets congratulating each other, hugging, kissing and crying.
On May 9, in the evening, the Victory Salute was given in Moscow, the largest in the history of the USSR: thirty volleys were fired from a thousand guns. But May 9 was a day off for only three years. In 1948, the war was ordered to be forgotten and all forces to be thrown into the restoration of the national economy destroyed by the war. Only in 1965, already in the era of Brezhnev, the holiday was again given its due. May 9 again became a day off, Parades resumed, large-scale fireworks in all cities - Heroes and honoring veterans. Abroad, Victory Day is celebrated on May 9 and May 8. This is due to the fact that the act of surrender was signed on Central European time on May 8, 1945 at 22:43. When in Moscow, with its two hour time difference, May 9 has already arrived.
War-torn Europe also celebrated Victory Day sincerely and publicly. On May 9, 1945, in almost all European cities, people congratulated each other and the victorious soldiers. In London, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square were the center of celebrations. People were congratulated by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Winston Churchill delivered a speech from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. In the USA, there are two whole Victory Days: V-E Day (Victory Day in Europe) and V-J Day (Victory Day over Japan). Both of these Victory Days in 1945 were celebrated by the Americans on a grand scale, honoring their veterans and remembering President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who did so much for the Victory and did not live to see it for less than a month (he died on April 12, 1945)
Banner of Victory
The banner taken from the Reichstag, where Yegorov and Kantaria hoisted it, did not participate in the first Victory Parade. The name of the 150th division, where the soldiers served, was displayed on it, and the country's leadership considered that such a banner could not be a symbol of the Victory, which was achieved by the whole people, and not by one division. This historical injustice was corrected only much later, already in the Brezhnev era. In 2007, a dispute flared up again around the banner of Victory: after all, you can see a sickle and a hammer on it - symbols of a state that no longer exists. And again common sense prevailed, and the banner again proudly flew over the ranks of soldiers and cadets, minting a step across Red Square.
Traditions and attributes of May 9 - Victory Day.
In addition to the festive victory parades in the cities of the country, Victory Day has other attributes and traditions:
Laying wreaths and flowers at memorial cemeteries and monuments to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Traditionally, flowers are laid on Poklonnaya Hill and at the monument to the Unknown Soldier; in St. Petersburg, the main laying ceremony takes place at the Piskarevsky cemetery and at the memorial plaque on Nevsky Prospekt, in Volgograd on Mamaev Kurgan. And throughout the country, thousands of thousands of monuments, commemorative plaques and memorial places, where on Victory Day on May 9, everyone, young and old, bring flowers.
A moment of silence. Solemn and mourning flower-laying ceremonies are traditionally accompanied by a minute of silence in memory of all those who died during the Great Patriotic War. A minute of silence is a sign of respect for all the people who gave their lives so that today we could have a peaceful sky above our heads.

Salute of victory. Victory Day ends with fireworks. The first salute in Moscow was given in 1943 in honor of the successful offensive of the Red Army, after which a tradition arose to arrange salutes after successful operations with the Nazi troops. And, of course, one of the most grandiose salutes was the salute on May 9, 1945, on the day the complete surrender of the Nazi troops was announced. Fireworks began at 22:00 Moscow time, since then, every year at 22:00, Victory salutes begin in many cities, reminding that the country has survived, overthrown the invaders and rejoices!

St. George Ribbon. St. George ribbon - bicolor (two-color) of orange and black. It traces its history from the ribbon to the soldier's order of St. George the Victorious, established on November 26, 1769 by Empress Catherine II. This ribbon, with minor changes, was included in the USSR award system as the “Guards Ribbon” - a sign of a special distinction for a soldier. She is covered with a block of a very honorable "soldier's" Order of Glory. The black color of the ribbon means smoke, and the orange color means flame. In our time, an interesting tradition has appeared associated with this ancient symbol. Young people, on the eve of the Victory Day holiday, tie a “Georgievka” on their clothes as a sign of respect, memory and solidarity with the heroic Russian soldiers who defended the freedom of our country in the distant 40s.
St. George's Ribbon - the action “I remember! I'm proud!". St. George's bicolor ribbon with longitudinal black and yellow stripes, it is also known as a guards ribbon - a sign of special distinction for soldiers, it is covered with a block of the Soviet "Order of Glory" - an honorary award badge. There are fewer and fewer living witnesses of that war, more and more often the political forces of some foreign countries are trying to denigrate the heroic soldiers of our victorious army. And in order to pay tribute to the memory and reverence for the exploits of our heroes, so that the younger generation knows, remembers and is proud of its history, a new tradition was introduced in 2005 - to tie a St. George ribbon on Victory Day. The action is called “I remember! I'm proud!" The motto of the action needs no explanation and an increasing number of cities and residents are included in this action, more and more in these May days you can find tied black and yellow ribbons - a tribute to memory and reverence.
Metronome sounds. Petersburg has a special attribute of Victory Day - the sound of a metronome from all radio broadcasting points. During the most difficult 900 days of the siege of Leningrad, the sounds of the metronome did not stop for a minute, announcing that the city lives, the city breathes. These sounds gave vitality to the exhausted siege residents of Leningrad, it can be said without exaggeration that the sounds of the metronome saved thousands of lives.

Festive Parade. The Victory Parade in Russia is traditionally held on Red Square in Moscow. In addition to Moscow, on May 9, parades are held in other cities - the heroes of the former USSR. The first parade in honor of the Victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War on June 24, 1945 on Red Square. The decision to hold the Victory Parade on Red Square was made by Stalin in mid-May 1945, almost immediately after the defeat of the last resisting group of Nazi troops on May 13th. June 22, 1945 the Pravda newspaper published the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin for No. 370: “In commemoration of the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, I appoint June 24, 1945 in Moscow on Red Square the Parade of the troops of the Army, Navy and Moscow garrison - Victory Parade. To bring to the Parade: consolidated regiments of the fronts, a consolidated regiment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, a consolidated regiment of the Navy, military academies, military schools and troops of the Moscow garrison. The Victory Parade will be hosted by my Deputy Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov. Command the Victory Parade to Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky.

The first Victory Parade was prepared very carefully. According to the memoirs of veterans, rehearsals took place a month and a half. Soldiers and officers, accustomed to four years of crawling and moving in short dashes, had to be taught to mint a step at a frequency of 120 steps per minute. First, stripes were drawn on the asphalt along the length of the step, and then they even pulled the ropes to help set the height of the step. The boots were covered with a special varnish, in which the sky was reflected like in a mirror, and metal plates were nailed to the soles, which helped to mint the step. The parade began at ten o'clock in the morning, almost all this time it was raining, at times turning into a downpour, which was recorded by newsreel footage. About forty thousand people participated in the Parade. Zhukov and Rokossovsky went to Red Square on white and black horses, respectively. Iosif Vissarionovich himself from the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum only watched the Parade. Stalin stood on the podium of the mausoleum on the left, giving way to the middle of the front-line generals - the winners. Kalinin, Molotov, Budyonny, Voroshilov and other members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee were also present on the podium. Zhukov “received” the Parade from Rokossovsky, rode along with him along the fighters lined up in ranks and greeted them with a triple “cheers”, then went up to the podium of the Mausoleum and read out a welcoming speech dedicated to the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany. Consolidated regiments of the fronts solemnly marched across Red Square: Karelian, Leningrad, 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussian, 1st, 4th, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian, consolidated regiment Navy. As part of the regiment of the 1st Belorussian Front, representatives of the Polish Army marched in a special column. In front of the marching columns of the fronts were the commanders of the fronts and armies with drafts drawn. The banners of the formations were carried by the Heroes of the Soviet Union and other order bearers. Behind them moved a column of soldiers of a special battalion from among the heroes of the Soviet Union and other soldiers who especially distinguished themselves in battles. They carried the banners and standards of the defeated Nazi Germany, which they threw at the foot of the Mausoleum and set it on fire. Further along Red Square, units of the Moscow garrison marched, then cavalrymen rode, legendary carts rode, air defense formations, artillery, motorcyclists, light armored vehicles and heavy tanks followed. Airplanes piloted by famous aces swept through the sky. The Victory Parade is dedicated to the film of the same name by Yefim Uchitel, filmed in 1945, one of the first color films in the USSR.
In 1948, the tradition of holding festive parades on Red Square was interrupted and resumed with its former strength and splendor only in the anniversary year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory - in 1965.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, parades on Victory Day stopped again for a while. They were revived again only in the anniversary year of 1995, when two parades were held in Moscow at once: the first on Red Square and the second on the Poklonnaya Gora memorial complex. Since that moment, Victory parades on Red Square have been held every year, however, military equipment no longer participates in them.

May 9 is not just a holiday, it is one of the great days, revered not only in Russia, but also in many other countries of the world affected by the invaders. Victory Day is a holiday that is important for every family and every citizen. It is difficult to find a person who would not be touched in any way by a terrible war that claimed the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians. This date will never be erased from history, it will remain forever in the calendar, and will always remind you of those terrible events and the great defeat of the fascist troops, which ended hell.

History of May 9 in the USSR

The first ever Victory Day was celebrated in 1945. Exactly at 6 am, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on designating May 9 as Victory Day and assigning it the status of a day off was solemnly read out over all loudspeakers of the country.

That evening, the Victory Salute was given in Moscow - a grandiose spectacle for those times - thousands of anti-aircraft guns fired 30 victorious volleys. The streets of the cities on the day the war ended were filled with jubilant people. They had fun, sang songs, embraced each other, kissed and cried with happiness and pain for those who did not live to see this long-awaited event.

The first Victory Day passed without a military parade, for the first time this solemn procession took place on Red Square only on June 24th. They prepared for it carefully and for a long time - for a month and a half. The following year, the parade became an integral attribute of the celebration.

However, the magnificent celebration of Victory Day lasted only for three years. Since 1948, in the country destroyed by the Nazi troops, the authorities considered it necessary to put the restoration of cities, factories, roads, educational institutions and agriculture in the first place. They refused to allocate considerable funds from the budget for the magnificent celebration of the most important historical event and to provide an additional day off for the workers.

L. I. Brezhnev made his contribution to the return of Victory Day - in 1965, on the twentieth anniversary of the Great Victory, May 9 was again painted red in the USSR calendar. This important memorable day was declared a holiday. Military parades and fireworks resumed in all hero cities. Veterans - those who forged victory on the battlefield and behind enemy lines - enjoyed special honor and respect on the holiday. Participants in the war were invited to schools, higher educational institutions, meetings were organized with them at factories and sincerely congratulated on the streets with words, flowers and warm hugs.

Victory Day in modern Russia

In the new Russia, Victory Day remained a great holiday. On this day, citizens of all ages, without compulsion, go to monuments and memorials in an endless stream, laying flowers and wreaths on them. The squares and concert venues host performances by famous and amateur artists, mass festivities last from morning until late at night.

By tradition, military parades are held in hero cities. And in the evenings, the sky lights up with festive fireworks and modern fireworks. A new attribute on May 9 was the St. George ribbon - a symbol of heroism, courage and courage. Ribbons were distributed for the first time in 2005. Since then, on the eve of the holiday, they have been distributed free of charge in public places, shops, and educational institutions. Each participant proudly wears a striped ribbon on his chest, paying tribute to the memory of those who died for the Victory and peace on earth.

On May 9, our country celebrates the day of the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War, which lasted four long years from June 1941 to May 1945.

On May 9, 1945, at 0:43 Moscow time, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in the French city of Reims.

Thus ended the most terrible war in the history of our country. For this day to come, blood was shed for four years, soldiers died on the front line, and their mothers, wives and children, forgetting about hunger and fatigue, worked in the rear, supplying the front with weapons and bread.

Victory in this long and cruel war was given to our country at the cost of huge losses and the daily feat of everyone - from very young boys who fled to the front, and young female nurses who carried the wounded out of the shelling, and women exhausted by endless shifts at factories and collective farms. fields, malnutrition and the constant expectation of letters from the front. They won the world for us, and in gratitude for this, we should always remember that war and try to find out the whole truth about it, no matter how bitter and cruel it may be, because lies and oblivion are worse than death. Of all the official holidays, May 9 remains the warmest and most unofficial in our country. On this day, everyone in their own way tries to express their personal gratitude to the few surviving veterans: someone gives carnations to unfamiliar gray-haired people with orders on their chests, someone presents them with homemade cards and gifts, someone just comes up and thanks. And recently, a good tradition has appeared to tie St. George ribbons on clothes, bags and even cars as a symbol of memory and deep respect for all the fallen and survivors of that terrible and now so distant war. May 9 is one of the few Soviet holidays that is still celebrated in many countries of the former Soviet Union.

Mind games. Pillar Checkers

Number of players: two.

You will need: chessboard and checkers.

If you are tired of playing regular checkers and giveaways, you can master their rather funny variety -

Russian pole checkers! This is not at all difficult to do, given that they play pillar checkers according to the usual checkers rules with some additions. All checkers remain on the field until the very end of the game.

1. The beaten checker of the opponent is not removed from the board, but gets under the attacking checker.

2. When a tower made of checkers is under attack, then only the top checker is removed from it, and the checker that was under it comes into play

according to your color.

3. When capturing several of your opponent's checkers, you do not remove them from the field, but take them one by one under the attacking piece in order, and on the final field you make a pillar or tower out of them.

4. Such towers move as a whole and move according to the rules of their top checker, like the most ordinary checker or king.

5. The tower, like a single checker, can go to the kings, but only the top checker becomes a king.

It turns out that during the game you can free your checkers captured by the opponent in the towers, and the king captured and then freed retains its "lady" status. The best pillar checkers strategists act like this: they capture as many of the opponent's checkers as possible under their checkers and at the same time a. take the towers off large quantity captured checkers deep into their position. At the same time, they try to attack the opponent with the heaviest towers, trying to exchange the weakest of his towers in order to free their captives.

The great victory of the peoples of Russia in the Great Patriotic War is a heroic and turning point in the significant events of the middle of the 20th century.

Fascism was a powerful, cruel, inhuman enemy that swept everything beautiful and good from its path.

For the sake of victory over the Nazis, the leadership of our country resorted to extraordinary measures, and the great Russian people had to make an incredible amount of effort, estimated at millions of lives.

The road to German enemy Berlin took the Soviet army more than three years of hardest front-line battles and battles. Under the power of the Wehrmacht, the Soviet Union did not surrender, unlike other European states.

How it all started

May 9- one of the main holidays of great Russia and the former countries of the Soviet Union. Each of us annually recalls the horrors of the war that Soviet soldiers were able to survive, and in almost every family there are veterans of this war who survived the victory or did not return from the battlefield.

The celebration was established in 1945 after the defeat of the Nazi troops by the Soviet wars. It was on May 9 that the Soviet and German sides signed an agreement on the surrender of the Wehrmacht, which marked the end of the brutal interethnic bloodshed.

On June 24, 1945, the official date for the celebration of the Great Victory was announced - May 9. On the occasion of a significant historical event, a parade was held under the leadership of Rokossovsky, but three years later, the Victory Day ceased to be a day off.

The leaders of the Union considered that the people should, at least for a while, forget about the terrible military events. But still, every year holiday greeting cards were issued, veterans-front-line soldiers received congratulations.

From the beginning of L.I. Brezhnev's reign, May 9 again became a public holiday, military parades were held in large cities of the country, festive fireworks thundered. Since 1965, military parades in Moscow have been held every 10 years, but with the collapse of the USSR, political instability manifested itself and the governments of the new states were not up to public celebrations.

The holiday was fully restored only in 1995, and the inhabitants of Russia witnessed two bright Moscow parades at once: Russian troops parade on Red Square, and a military parade using armored vehicles took place on Poklonnaya Hill.

From that moment on, military processions on the Red Square of Moscow and the laying of wreaths at the monuments of fallen heroes are held every year. Until 2008, military equipment did not participate in the parades, but later the tradition was restored.

May 9 is the Victory Day, but in other countries this day is celebrated on May 8, due to the difference in time zones (according to European time, this great event happened on May 8). But in fact, it turns out that the inhabitants of Europe celebrate a slightly different event - Victory Day in Europe - they have every right to celebrate the date of the liberation of the peoples of European countries.

On May 9, the history of the holiday has become one of the brightest and most colorful annual events. Parades are held on the squares of the cities, the music of the war years sounds, salutes are fired, everyone congratulates the veterans. But do not forget that this day for front-line soldiers is also a day of bitter memory of the horrors of the war experienced, of the soldiers who died in the name of victory.

Our duty is to remember the veterans not only on this great historical day, we are obliged to give them the attention and care that they deserve and gave us a bright and peaceful future.

Although Russia has experienced a huge number of battles and victories over its long history, the Great Patriotic War is the closest, memorable and terrible for us. There are several reasons for this.

There is not a single family in our country that has not been affected by this disaster. Fathers and grandfathers died, were injured and captured, mothers and grandmothers worked both at the front and in the rear, and those who were children in those terrible years experienced hunger, fear and cruelty. The memory of the ancestors who fought is alive in the heart of every Russian.
Some of the veterans are still alive - participants in the battles and home front workers. To congratulate and thank them, to listen to their stories is the sacred duty of those for whom they fought.
The Second World War is the largest and most terrible in the entire history of mankind. All the more striking is the feat of the Soviet people, who defeated the enemy and eradicated fascism.

Therefore, the holiday of May 9 - spring, bright and solemn - is one of the most important for Russians. What is the history of the celebration of Victory Day, why is it celebrated on this particular day and what events are associated with it - this is our article.

End of the Great Patriotic War

Long months of fighting were drawing to a close already in Germany. The Berlin operation is considered one of the largest and bloodiest in the history of the war. It involved 2.5 million Soviet soldiers, a huge amount of military equipment, aviation. The victims of the Soviet army in the Berlin operation amounted to more than three hundred thousand people.

So many of our tanks were brought into the capital of Nazi Germany that they could not really turn around for hostilities and became an easy target for the enemy.

However, Soviet troops destroyed about a hundred tank, motorized and infantry divisions of the Nazis. Almost half a million opponents were taken prisoner.

The banner hoisted on the Reichstag belonged to Division No. 150. The leadership of the Soviet Union considered that it could not become a symbol of the Great Victory, which was won by the efforts of the entire Soviet people. Only in Brezhnev's time did the real banner, which visited the Reichstag, begin to participate in the annual parade in the capital.

Instrument of Surrender

The main document, marking the end of the bloodshed, was signed late in the evening on May 8, local time. In Moscow at that moment it was already midnight. Therefore, the whole world celebrates the Victory Day a day earlier than the Russian Federation, and before it the Soviet Union.

Since it took time to form a new German government that could maintain official relations with the victorious powers, the peace treaty was concluded only 10 years later - in 1955.

Victory parade

The morning of Victory on May 9 began with the fact that an act of surrender was delivered from Berlin to Moscow by plane. However, the Parade took place only on June 24, when the winners arrived at home, at least some of them. The parade was hosted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, whom many remember riding a white horse, and Konstantin Rokossovsky commanded the event. Enemy banners were thrown to the foot of the Mausoleum. The consolidated victorious regiments of the Workers 'and Peasants' Army marched along Red Square. Victory banners were carried by the heroes of the Soviet Union.

How to start celebrating Victory Day

On May 9, a large-scale fireworks display took place in the capital of the Soviet Union. A thousand guns participated in it, they fired 30 volleys.

This day has not become the same as we now see on May 9, and the history of the holiday has undergone some changes. In 1945, this date was declared by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Stalin, a day off. But in 1948, the order was canceled, and the entire Soviet people worked as usual.

The restoration of the national economy was declared a priority task, to which both holidays and days of rest must be sacrificed.

At the same time, military pensions were canceled, and many cripples who were injured during the battles found themselves on the streets without a livelihood. The fact is that the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, veterans, their glory, were not needed by the Stalinist regime. Marshal Zhukov was disgraced. The authorities pretended that the holiday did not exist. Only in 1965, more than a decade after the death of the leader, Victory Day was returned to the people and finally declared a day off.

Victory celebration traditions

In 1945, on this great day, even strangers on the streets of cities hugged and congratulated each other. Today, there are slightly different traditions that take root throughout Russia:

On the eve of the holiday in educational institutions - from kindergartens to universities - lessons of courage are held. Sometimes they are visited by veterans who talk about what they have experienced themselves.
Laying flowers at the eternal fire. This symbol of inextinguishable courage and heroism of soldiers is in many cities of our country. Both representatives of the administration and ordinary people bring wreaths and scarlet carnations there.
A moment of silence. For 60 seconds, people freeze, remembering those who died for the Motherland in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.
In our time, St. George ribbons have become an attribute that demonstrates the greatness of the holiday of May 9 and Victory Day in all its splendor. Celebration is not only joy and jubilation, it is also a memory of the horrors of battles. Therefore, the black and orange ribbon, originating in the 18th century, when the Order of St. George appeared, symbolizing the smoke and fire of battle, reminds of the past like nothing else.
There is a tradition to congratulate veterans on the holiday. On the ninth day of May, people buy scarlet carnations, approach the participants in the battles of the Great Patriotic War on the street, give them flowers and thank them for their work, for their contribution to the victory, for the peaceful sky above their heads. This is very important for children, because veterans are gradually leaving, and seeing them, talking to them is a great rarity and value.
In many cities of Russia, on Victory Day, parades are held in which troops of local garrisons, students of military educational institutions, law enforcement agencies, and cadets participate. An obligatory addition is a brass band, decorating the holiday with its sound.
A few years ago, a unique phenomenon appeared in our country - the Immortal Regiment. Now May and the solemn holiday of victory are associated with many people with it. This is a social movement organized by journalists, which consists in the fact that a huge number of people pass through the streets with portraits of their ancestors. A large number of veterans, participants in the war have already left, but their descendants want to preserve their glory and the memory of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Every year the number of members of the Immortal Regiment increases.
Another phenomenon that has appeared relatively recently is military-historical reconstruction. Today in Russia and abroad there are a huge number of clubs that specialize in restoring the form, structure, events of a particular military period.

On the eve or on the day of the holiday in many cities, reconstructions of battles are held - the Berlin operation, the battles near Stalingrad, and so on. For the viewer, this is a unique opportunity to see a spectacle as close to reality as possible with the participation of people in uniform and with equipment that exactly repeats the real-life military equipment of those years, with shots and explosions. This helps to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the event, to feel it.

Concerts are held on the squares of cities on Victory Day, poems and songs of the war time are heard. Sometimes spontaneous dance floors are organized right there, where even veterans and children of the war waltz.

In St. Petersburg on May 9, a sound reproducing a metronome is heard from all radar points. This is a tribute to the memory of besieged Leningrad, when this unpretentious knock announced that the Northern Capital was still alive. The city on the Neva does not forget the terrible days of the occupation, the courageous inhabitants - both the dead and those who survived the war.

There are traditions of Victory Day within Russian families. Firstly, many visit their veterans' graves in the cemetery on the eve of the holiday. They look after them, remember their loved ones, pray for them if they consider it necessary.

On May 9, many channels show films about the Great Patriotic War. Soviet copies are of particular value, some of them starred actors who themselves participated in the battles. These works of art help to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the war years, to feel and understand it.

Victory Day is usually a gentle and bright spring day. In many regions of the country, lilac and bird cherry are already blooming, enhancing the holiday atmosphere. For every Russian, this date is memorable and great, mournful and solemn at the same time.