Kremlin says top brass taking all safety measures to prepare for Victory Parade

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS. Russia’s Defense Ministry is taking all necessary epidemiological safety measures during preparations for the Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square on June 24 devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. "The Defense Ministry is taking all necessary epidemiological safety measures in the course of preparing for and holding the parade," Peskov said. The Russian presidential spokesman said, however, it was not the Kremlin’s prerogative to keep a close eye on the preparations for the military parade and Russia’s Defense Ministry was not required to report on the process of rehearsals for the event. Responding to a reporters’ request to comment on the photos posted on the Internet and showing that the rehearsal’s participants were allegedly breaching the rules of keeping a physical distance and wearing masks amid the pandemic, Peskov said: "I do not know what photographs you are talking about: which people and where are they standing? This is just the Internet," he pointed out. Russia postponed its military parade traditionally held on Moscow’s Red Square on May 9 for a later date due to the coronavirus pandemic. At a video conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on May 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the anticipated Victory Parade would be held on Moscow’s Red Square on June 24. The head of state explained he had chosen this date because June 24 was the day when in 1945 the legendary historic parade of victors took place, when soldiers, who fought for Moscow and defended Leningrad, who stood their ground for Stalingrad, liberated Europe and stormed Berlin, marched on Red Square. The Russian president instructed the defense chief to make sure that there weren’t any risks to the health of the military parade’s participants. Read more