By the time the text was signed late at night, it was already May 9 on Moscow time.ДЄs TIME has previously reported, in the 1960s Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev made May 9 a national holiday, complete with military parades.

While the Allies marked May 7 as вЂњV-E DayвЂќ-Victory in Europe Day-to commemorate the Nazis surrendering in Reims, France, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin wanted to wait to celebrate until the Nazis surrendered in Soviet-controlled Berlin the next day. World War II has always been central to the Russian stateвЂ™s approach to telling the countryвЂ™s history. Read more: World War II in Europe Ended 75 Years Ago-But the World Is Still Fighting Over Who Gets to Say What Happened World War II has shaped PutinвЂ™s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war In justifying the invasion of Ukraine, he claimed he had set out to вЂњdenazifyвЂќ the country-a phrase that many pundits noted is inaccurate in this context given Ukraine has a Jewish President. вЂњRemember those who fell for the liberation of Russia and other republics of the former U.S.S.R., for the liberation of Europe from the Nazi plague.вЂќ вЂњWe will solemnly celebrate May 9, as we always do,вЂќ Lavrov continued. and western officials have openly wondered if Russia will officially declare war on May 9, escalating what Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted is merely a вЂњspecial military operation.вЂќ But on May 1, RussiaвЂ™s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said, вЂњOur military will not artificially adjust their actions to any date, including Victory Day,вЂќ the Moscow Times reported. In March, the Kyiv Independent reported that Russian troops were being told the war must end by May 9, while more recently, U.S.

Victory day in europe