The event drew the participation of nearly 2,000 veterans and families of soldiers who took part in the Great Patriotic War in Russia and the resistance war in Vietnam; Russian diplomats and citizens who are residing and working and in Vietnam, and representatives of the Vietnam Veterans Association (VVA).
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| Young Russians carrying portraits of their relatives who fought or died during the war during the ceremony in Hanoi. |
In his opening speech, Russian Ambassador to Vietnam K.V. Vnukov said this is the third time an event of this kind has been held in Vietnam, adding that it affirmed that generations today still remember and are grateful for the glorious feat by heroes of the former Soviet Union (now Russian Federation) and Vietnam.
Talking about the close relations between the two nations during the wartime, Colonel Nguyen Khanh Duy from the VVA shared that the success of the October Revolution in 1917 opened up “the revolutionary path” of Vietnam.
The victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War in 1945 created an objective premise for the success of Vietnam’s August Revolution in the same year, he added.
The Vietnamese people appreciated the Soviet Union’s support for Vietnam in the war for national independence, and during the country’s national reconstruction following the war, Duy said.
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| The “Immortal Regiment” at the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. |
According to TASS, the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march is an annual event held throughout Russia and in other countries on May 9. The event is dedicated to victory in the Great Patriotic War (as WWII is called in Russia) that claimed lives of about 28 million Soviet people, both soldiers and civilians. During the march, people carry portraits of their relatives who fought or died during the war.
The idea was born in the Russian Siberian city of Tyumen in 2007 when the march was called the Victors’ Parade. In 2012, another Siberian city of Tomsk picked up the torch renaming the rally as ‘Immortal Regiment.’ The next year, about 120 cities joined in.
A year later, people carried portraits of their relatives, who fought during WWII, in 500 cities in seven countries. Since 2015, the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march has officially become a nationwide event.
