About 500 guests from Russia and the CIS countries attended.
Speaking on the occasion, President Putin said that May 9 was not just a date or something to remember. On that day the peoples of the Soviet Union won a great victory over barbarity and violence, fear and pain.
The victory came as the main prize for all Soviet citizens, but commanded a very high price – in losses and privations, unbearable trials and ordeals.
In 1945, persistence, fortitude and a love of the homeland helped to overwhelm the enemy and gain the upper hand on Nazism. But all these qualities are also needed now when building a new Russia and addressing the tasks of peaceful life facing the country.
The President raised a toast to “a generation of victors – Great Patriotic War soldiers, to peace and wellbeing on Russian soil.”