Victory Day, May 9th St Petersburg

Scene fro 2018 Immortal Regiment walk

A Day of Remembrance   St Petersburg Victory Day 2018

Victory Day commemorates the Russian and Soviet people defeat of the Axis Powers with their unconditional surrender on  May 8 1945. Due to the time difference, it was after midnight in Moscow where it was May 9th.
WW2 is called the Great Patriotic War in Russia.  Since the 1960s it has been an official holiday but first observed in 1945.  The day has grown in importance to the society, to keep the memory alive of what the people did, and suffered as victims of, and eventual victors in the most deadly war in human history. Not a family was spared so it is not surprising each generation has kept the memories alive.  
An addition to the formal parades, speeches, and public events there has been a citizen-organized march that has grown in participation called the “Immortal Regiment” and this year nearly 1,000,000 citizens marched 3.5 km from Uprising Square to Palace Square, as a walk more than march, each holding photos of relatives who served in the war effort.  Each year the formal parades featured elderly participants in the war but their number has steadily decreased as age has reduced the number still alive. While the first generation has become less and less the second, third and fourth generation have picked up the tradition and this year, the number of family members of all ages participating set new records