MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. All of Russia and its people support the participants of the special military operation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Truth and justice are on our side. The entire nation, society, and the people stand behind the participants of the special military operation. We take pride in their courage and unwavering resolve. That strength of spirit, which has always led us to victory, remains unshakable," the head of state declared, delivering his address at the parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Russia has been and will remain an unyielding barrier to the proponents of Nazism, Russophobia, and antisemitism, Putin said. "Russia has been and will remain an unbreakable barrier to Nazism, Russophobia, and antisemitism. It will continue to resist the outrages committed by the proponents of these aggressive, destructive ideologies," he stressed.
At the same time, Russia remembers the lessons of the World War II and will never accept the distortion of its events or attempts to slander the true victors.
"Our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers saved the Fatherland and entrusted us with the duty to defend our homeland, to remain united, and to steadfastly uphold our national interests, our thousand-year history, culture, traditional values - everything that is dear and sacred to us," Putin said.
"We remember the lessons of the World War II and will never agree to any distortion of its events, nor to attempts to justify executioners and defame the true victors," he emphasized.
The Soviet troops, who held their ground to the death on key frontlines, determined the outcome of the entire World War II through their victories in the largest battles, Putin emphasized.
"The Soviet Union bore the brunt of the fiercest, most ruthless enemy assaults. Millions of people, who had known only peaceful labor, took up arms and stood their ground to the death on every height, bridgehead, and defensive line. They determined the outcome of the entire World War II with their unequivocal victories in the major battles near Moscow and Stalingrad, on the Kursk Salient and at the Dnieper, through the courage of the defenders of Belarus who were the first to confront the enemy, and through the resilience of those who defended the Brest Fortress and Mogilev, Odessa and Sevastopol, Murmansk, Tula, and Smolensk," the head of state said in his address at the parade marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.