Mintimer Shaimiev attends a celebratory parade dedicated to the 73rd anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War

On May 9, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, State Counsellor of the republic Mintimer Shaimiev, the regional Chairman of the State Council Farid Mukhametshin, Prime Minister of the republic Aleksey Pesoshin and veterans of the Great Patriotic War took part in a celebratory parade dedicated to the 73rd anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The official part started with the march with Victory Banner and state flags of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan, and live broadcast of the main parade on red Square in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated citizens of the Russian Federation on Victory Day.

“The Soviet Union achieved Victory at the cost of the hardest, irreparable  losses; it defended the honour and independence of our homeland due to unparalleled courage on the frontlines and on the home front. However, today, there are attempts to cross out this feat of the people who saved Europe and the world from slavery, from the horrors of the Holocaust, they try to distort the events of the war, to bury the true heroes in oblivion, to forge, rewrite and distort history itself.

We will never let this happen. We must cherish the memory of the courage of the warriors who gave their lives for the lives of others, of all our soldiers and the brave fighters of the Second Front, of the contribution made by the anti-Hitler coalition countries, of the brotherhood-in-arms of those who stood up against Nazism,” Putin said.

Putin announced a minute of silence in memory of those who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War. The State Anthem of the Russian Federation was played after that.

After the official speech of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov congratulated citizens of the republic on the 73rd anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War: “Victory Day has always been, is and will remain our main holiday. It is a day of national triumph and people's pride, a day of sorrow and eternal memory. The Great Victory went to us at the cost of irreparable losses: tens of millions of dead, thousands of cities and villages burned, factories, plants and cultural monuments destroyed,” Minnikhanov said.

“Without hiding pride and tears, we thank you, dear veterans and homefront workers. We will do everything that you will not be ashamed of us, the new generation. Our people will never forget and will not forgive the Nazis and their ideological heirs, numerous crimes, the horrors of genocide, occupation, hunger and the blockade,” he stated.

Tatarstan President noted that today, successors of the Great Victory, soldiers and commanders of the Russian army are protecting borders of our country, effectively counter aggression and international terrorism. “Our peace and tranquility are in safe hands,” Minnikhanov concluded.

The State Anthem of the Republic of Tatarstan was played after his speech.

A solemn passage of the troops of the Kazan garrison, representatives of Kazan military schools, employees of law enforcement agencies, regional public associations, students, as well as the passage of military and specialized equipment, cars of the vintage auto club was held.