Russia: Military parade commemorates Red Square's legendary 1941 march

Russia commemorated the anniversary of the legendary 1941 Red Square parade with a solemn march in honour of the Soviets that marched over the iconic locale to the battlefields of World War II, known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia, in Moscow on Saturday. The Solemn March on the Red Square lasted for about 50 minutes and included a wide range of historic military equipment and units, with Katyusha rocket launchers, T-34 tanks and artillery guns on display. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War were congratulated during the ceremony. On November 7, 1941, under the leadership of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin, a military parade to commemorate the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 was staged on Red Square. The parade was kept secret until the last moment, given that the Nazis were just a few kilometres from the Russian capital. After passing the Kremlin, the troops marched to the frontlines of the war where they engaged the Wehrmacht in a series of battles, including an offensive in Aleksino that resulted in a Soviet victory and heavy losses for the occupying power.