On the night of May 8, 1945, Germany signed the surrender document in Karlshorst, Berlin, marking the end of WWII in Europe. However, due to the time difference, Moscow had already entered May 9 -- the date the Soviet Union, and later Russia, commemorates as the "Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War."
The Soviet Union held a historic parade in Red Square on June 24, 1945, marking the victory of the Great Patriotic War. Since 1995, Russia has staged military parades and series of celebration activities at Red Square annually on May 9.
As the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War are around the corner, let's look back at the military parades on the Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War through the lens of Xinhua photographers in the past 30 years.
50th Anniversary: Veterans march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 1995. (Xinhua/Liu Yu)
51st Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 1996. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
53rd Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 1998. (Xinhua/Hu Haixin)
55th Anniversary: Veterans march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2000. (Xinhua/Wang Changshan)
56th Anniversary: A veteran and a boy are pictured during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2001. (Xinhua/Wang Changshan)
57th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2002.(Xinhua/Wang Changshan)
58th Anniversary: Veterans watch the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2003. (Xinhua/Zhang Weige)
59th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2004.(Xinhua/Zhang Weige)
60th Anniversary: Soldiers line up outside Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2005. (Xinhua/Gong Bing)
61st Anniversary: Members of a military band leave Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2006. (Xinhua/Liu Yifang)
62nd Anniversary: Fight jets fly in formation over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2007. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
63rd Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2008. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)
64th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2009. (Xinhua/Lu Jinbo)
65th Anniversary: Fight jets fly in formation over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2010. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
66th Anniversary: Honor guards march with the national flag of Russia during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2011. (Xinhua/Liu Lihang)
67th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2012. (Xinhua/Li Yong)
68th Anniversary: A Russian Topol-M missile launcher takes part in the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2013. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)
69th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2014. (Xinhua/Jia Yuchen)
70th Anniversary: A veteran and his grandson leave Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2015. (Xinhua/Dai Tianfang)
71st Anniversary: Fight jets fly in formation over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2016. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)
72nd Anniversary: Servicewomen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)
73rd Anniversary: Fight jets fly in formation over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2018. (Photo by Evgeny Sinitsyn/Xinhua)
74th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Evgeny Sinitsyn/Xinhua)
75th Anniversary: People watch fight jets flying in formation over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2020. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)
76th Anniversary: Servicemen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2021. (Photo by Evgeny Sinitsyn/Xinhua)
77th Anniversary: Members of a military band are seen before the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2022. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)
78th Anniversary: The Victory Day military parade is held on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
79th Anniversary: Su-25 attack aircraft fly in formation over Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)■