Russia marks Victory Day

68 years ago the last shots of the Great Patriotic War died down into silence.

The war left behind millions of people with maimed destinies and claimed a huge number of lives.

The biggest losses in terms of human lives were suffered by the Soviet Union which lost nearly 27 million people.

Today, the Russian capital will be the center of nation-wide celebrations of the Great Victory.

In the morning a military parade will be held on Red Square with an impressive display of military equipment and involving more than 11,000 troops.

May 9 will be remembered by those in Moscow through meetings with soldiers, folk festivals and holiday concerts.

Artillery salutes to mark the 68th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War will be performed tonight in the hero cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Novorossiysk, Tula, Smolensk and Murmansk, and in the cities, where headquarters of military districts, fleets, combined forces and the Caspian Flotilla are located, as well as in Sevastopol.