On Victory Day Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall.
As is traditional, the head of state, after leaving the central podium on Red Square, shook hands with Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Army General Oleg Salyukov, Commander of the Victory Parade. Putin spoke briefly with the commanders of the parade regiments. The servicemen surrounded the president, forming a clear "box". Putin congratulated them on Victory Day, and then made his way to Alexander Garden to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Members of the Presidential Regiment placed a wreath of scarlet roses at the Eternal Flame. Putin then spread ribbons on it, made in the colors of the Russian flag, and honored the memory of those killed in the war with a silent bow. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War and students of Suvorov military schools also took part in the ceremony. Following the president, they laid bouquets of red carnations to the Eternal Flame.
At this time, the Russian leader spoke briefly with several veterans, and then, after an official photograph, headed for the Alley Oo The Hero Cities. There are a total of 13 pedestals on it. Putin laid red carnations to each of them, including leaving flowers on the pedestals of Kiev and Odessa. The Russian president also laid flowers at the stele of cities of military glory.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a national memorial of military glory. The ashes of the unknown Soviet soldier were carried from a mass grave in the Moscow suburbs and solemnly reburied in the Alexander Garden in 1966. The following year, a memorial was opened here, the key element of which was the Eternal Flame, as well as an alley of hero-cities: Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Stalingrad, Sevastopol, Odessa, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Brest Fortress, Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk. Later the complex was supplemented with a stele in honor of the cities of military glory. Since 1997, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is constantly on guard of honor - "post number 1".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS