President Aliyev attends Great Patriotic War celebration events

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has paid a working visit to Russia to attend celebrative events marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

President Aliyev and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva took part in the events celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow.

The Azerbaijani president and his wife were welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on May 9.

The Russian president congratulated the event participants on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Victory at Red Square. He said representatives of different nations who showed vigilance and died in this war will always be revered.

A moment of silence was observed for the people who died in the Great Patriotic War.

Then, a military parade was held. Servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces also participated in the parade. A 70-man delegation of Azerbaijani servicemen led by Major Mehdi Mahmudov marched in front of the tribunes.

State and government officials, heads of international organizations and War veterans watched the parade. The parade featured more than 16,000 servicemen, various units of military equipment, planes and helicopters.

After the military parade, on behalf of heads of state and government a wreath and flowers were laid at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden at the Kremlin Wall.

The distinguished guests posed for photographs in front of the Kremlin.

Afterwards, President Aliyev completed his working visit to Russia.

The great victory of May 9, 1945, put an end to the six-year long war, one of the scariest in the history of mankind that killed about 65 million people all over the world.

For the Soviet Union, which Azerbaijan was part of, the war started in June 1941. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, planned to turn abundant Baku into a German military colony.

More than 600,000 people from Azerbaijan participated in the World War II, or as it called in the former Soviet Union - the Great Patriotic War.

More than 400,000 Azerbaijanis were awarded with orders and medals, 14 soldiers became Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory and 123 were made Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Baku oil workers made an invaluable contribution to the victory. During the war, Azerbaijan produced three-fourths of oil, aviation fuel and 85-90 percent of high-quality oil in the Soviet Union.