Correspondents Report - Sunday, 8 May , 2005
Reporter: Emma Griffiths
HAMISH ROBERTSON: The election in Britain has overshadowed another event which otherwise might have been making front-page news – the 60th anniversary of the allied victory against Nazi Germany.That victory though, is big news in Russia, whose contribution to the defeat of Hitler - at the cost of tens of millions of its citizens' lives – hasn't always been fully appreciated in the West.The occasion is to be marked tomorrow with the biggest military parade to be held in Russia for many years. More than 50 of the world's leaders will be present in Moscow's Red Square to witness the event, including President George W. Bush.But behind the pomp and ceremony are thousands of ordinary people remembering their own extraordinary efforts and sacrifices.Our Moscow Correspondent, Emma Griffiths, compiled this report.(Sound of bombs)EMMA GRIFFITHS: In Russia, World War II is known as the great patriotic war. It was fought on land, at sea, and in the air, to protect the motherland.(Sounds of war planes)The Red Army's efforts are revered and every soldier who fought is a hero. Among them is an extraordinary group of women. Barely out of university, they were recruited as pilots, navigators and mechanics, and became the Red rmy's first women's aerial combat regiment.Now they're grandmothers and every year they gather outside Moscow's famous Bolshoi theatre to remember.Pilot, Nina Raspopova."We went through the whole war together," she says. "We looked death in the eyes. We starved, everything was the war. But we flew every day, never missed a night, no matter what the conditions, snow or rain, we were always in this little plane."Each year there are fewer of them. This year barely a dozen women turned up for the reunion. Looking at them now it's hard to imagine these women as young fighter pilots, feared so much by the German army that they dubbed them the night witches.But the veterans know how fiercely they fought on hundreds of combat missions. Rufina Gasheva says the victory didn't come easily."For three years we flew at night non stop," she says, "every time on the night shift. We didn't stop except once when we relocated from the Crimea to the Second Belorussian front. Apart from that we flew and flew and flew for three whole years."That their efforts have been recognised at home is obvious from the dozens of medals decorating their suit jackets. Their hero status is guaranteed in the eyes of most Russians, but especially within their families. Granddaughter, Lena Mokrousova."I am very proud of my grandmother and of what she did for our Motherland," she says, "I also have two grandfathers who fought in the war so I will be eternally grateful for what they did for the freedom of our country."Thousands of veterans are now preparing for the big day. They'll don their uniforms and medals and toast old comrades. Some will be honoured in Red Square, others in parks, churches, and streets throughout the country.The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, began officially honouring their efforts earlier this year, when he spoke at the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz."We pay tribute to the courage of Soviet soldiers," he said, "600,000 of whom gave their lives for the liberation of Poland. And we will never forget that the Soviet Union paid the most terrible, impossibly high price for this victory – 27 million lives."It was a pointed reminder that the Red Army dealt the decisive blows to the enemy. And it revealed a common sore point in Russia, that the Soviet contribution to the victory has been overlooked by their western allies. Eurasia Fund analyst, Andrei Kortunov.ANDREI KORTUNOV: For older Russians it's a matter of principle, it's a matter of their self esteem, of their prestige, if you wish. It is important that there was a great war, and the Soviet Union was the major power which contributed to the victory of allies.The older generation of Russians do believe that the Soviet input into the victory is not properly appreciated by the West, that the West tries to downplay the sacrifices that the Soviet Union made during the Second World War and the West is trying to make sure that the role of the second front, for example, is more, at least emphasised, than the role of the first front, the Russian front.EMMA GRIFFITHS: Analyst, Andrei Kortunov.This victory day, Vladimir Putin, backed up by thousands of Russian veterans will again remind the world of the Soviet sacrifice, and the Soviet victory. This is Emma Griffiths in Moscow for Correspondents Report.
Russia has held rehearsals for next Monday's military parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany.
Rehearsals for next Monday's military parade that celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany are being held in Russian capital Moscow's Red Square.
The heads of the former Allied forces, Russia, America and Britain are expected to stand alongside the leaders of the former Axis nations of Germany and Italy and dozens of others to celebrate the end of what is known in Moscow as the "Great Patriotic War."
Besides, eighteen battalions from personnel manoeuvre units, military educational establishments and other uniformed agencies will march in formations on Red Square next Monday.
Alexander, student from Frontier Guard University is one of the participants:
"I think this is the duty of every man to give honor to those who were at war, who spilled blood. We should pay tribute to them," said Alexander.
Lev Gitsevich is a veteran who served in the Panfilov Division of the Soviet Army during World War II.
He is facing a bit difficult life although he won honors in the war:
"Well, the main problems are the financial ones, of course. Although, we get certain help, the pension is still small."
Eight out of ten soldiers in the Panfilov division were killed during the last attempt to stop the Nazi invasion.
(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)
Russian WWII veterans Georgy Nyukhalov and Maja Vasyukova go down stairs after they put flowers on a monument at Poklonnnaya hill in downtown Moscow, Sunday. (AP/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Young members of a military history club, dressed in Soviet war time uniform, wait for their turn to perform in a concert for the World War II veterans during celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in downtown Moscow, Sunday, May 8, 2005. Several dozen world leaders have been invited. (AP Photo/ Misha Japaridze) (Misha Japaridze - AP)
Russians Observe 60th Anniversary of VE Day
By MARIA DANILOVA
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 8, 2005; 5:22 AM
MOSCOW -- Soldiers marched and medal-bedecked veterans waved from military trucks rolling down a main Moscow street lined with police and overflown by helicopters Sunday, as Russia began a pomp-filled, high-security celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
Dozens of foreign leaders have been invited to Monday's ceremonies, prompting some of the strictest security measures Moscow has seen. City authorities have long been urging Muscovites to leave town over the weekend, as some parts of the city center as well as roads leading to airports were blocked off and accessible only to people with special passes.
About half a dozen tanks, including at least one WWII-era T-34, stood on a street near Red Square, awaiting Monday's military parade, which will be watched by the foreign guests. The pavement was marked by tank tracks.
Gray-haired veterans rode on open military trucks down Moscow's main thoroughfare on their way to a dramatic recreation of the arrival of trains bearing victorious Soviet troops to the Byelorussky railway station, complete with a period locomotive.
Soldiers stomped alongside as Russians lining the street, holding flags and balloons, chanted "Thank you" and shouted congratulations. Women in the parade wore traditional Russian costumes or war-era clothing.
"I'm overwhelmed with gratitude, pride and love for my motherland and the veterans," said Margarita Kremer, 60, a Moscow teacher in the crowd.
"I can hardly hold back the tears," said another onlooker, Galina Filippova, 50. "My late father fought in the war, and this is a chance for me to remember him."
Few Russian families were untouched by World War II, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million people.
After the ceremony at the railway station, veterans were to march to their traditional meeting place on the plaza outside the Bolshoi Theater. There they were scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin and leaders of other ex-Soviet republics who came to Moscow for a meeting Sunday of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and attend a gala concert.
Putin has invited more than 50 world leaders to the VE Day commemoration, and those expected to attend include President Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The centerpiece of the celebration Monday will be a Red Square parade featuring World War II veterans and MiG and Sukhoi jets screaming in the sky overhead. The dignitaries will lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and attend a Kremlin reception.
For ordinary citizens, concerts and parades are planned in parks outside the city center, and there will be fireworks displays all along the Moscow River as dusk settles.
