Interesting facts and figures about Russia's Victory Day

Every year, Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9. At 0:43 a.m. Moscow time on May 9, 1945, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed, ending the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War.

TASS news agency has compiled the following key facts and figures about Victory Day:

Memorable day

Russia celebrates Victory Day according to the Federal Law "On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Days of Russia" signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin on March 13, 1995. Initially, this day was set by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 8, 1945. In 1945-1947, this day was a day off and after that period it was declared a working day (by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on December 23, 1947) and in 1965 it became a day off again (by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 25, 1965).

The procedure for celebrating Victory Day is stipulated in the Federal Law of May 19, 1995 “On immortalizing the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”. According to this law, parades with the participation of weapons, military equipment and artillery will be held on May 9 in Moscow, hero cities and cities with headquarters of military districts, fleets, combined arms troops and the Caspian Flotilla.

In addition, processions, gatherings, meetings and receptions are held across Russia on May 9 to honor veterans of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).

In 2020, all festive events in Moscow were postponed or moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic, except for the flypast and fireworks display. The parade on Red Square in Moscow took place on June 24 that year.

In 2023-2024, the May 9 Victory Day parades were canceled in some regions of Russia for security reasons.

Casualties of war

The Soviet Union lost about 27 million people in the Great Patriotic War (40% of the total human losses in World War II), with civilian deaths accounting for the majority of these losses. According to the data of the Special State Commission for the Creation and Investigation of the Atrocities of the German Fascist Invaders, the German army completely or partially destroyed more than 1,700 cities and towns, more than 70,000 villages and settlements in the USSR. Direct damage to the Soviet state and people amounted to 679 billion rubles at 1941 prices.

Heroes of the Soviet Union

A total of 11,657 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for their heroic actions during the Great Patriotic War (3,051 of them posthumously), including 95 women and 44 foreigners.

Of these, 159 people were awarded this title twice, including 154 individuals who received it twice, 3 people received it three times (fighter pilots Ivan Kozhedub and Alexander Pokryshkin and military commander Semyon Budyonny) and 2 people were awarded this title four times (military commander Georgy Zhukov and General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev). Diver, Captain 3rd Rank Leonid Solodkov became the last Hero of the Soviet Union on December 24, 1991.

As of May 8, 2024, Soviet lawyer and politician Boris Kravtsov (Moscow) is the only living Hero of the Soviet Union to have received this title during the Great Patriotic War. In 2008, Soviet artist Pavel Syutkin, who lived in Sochi in the Krasnodar region, became the last Hero of Russia to receive this title while still alive for his heroic actions during the Great Patriotic War.

The veterans

According to the data of the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Russia Olga Batalina, there were more than 14,500 disabled participants and veterans of the Great Patriotic War living in Russia at the beginning of 2024, and there were also 608,500 veterans including home front workers, widows of disabled veterans and combatants, former concentration camp prisoners, residents of besieged Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and Sevastopol, as well as residents of besieged Stalingrad who received this title in April 2023.