Several African heads of state joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday for a grand military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Victory Day celebrations, held on Red Square, featured a large-scale display of military hardware, including new-generation tanks and Russian-made drones. Leaders from 27 countries, including African and global counterparts, gathered to observe the event, which holds deep historical significance in Russia.
Among the African leaders present were Burkina Faso’s transitional president Ibrahim Traoré, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo.
Other prominent international attendees included Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Following the parade, President Putin and his guests laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located in Alexander Garden near the Kremlin. In his address, Putin paid tribute to the resistance movements and Allied forces whose efforts contributed to the victory in 1945.
Victory Day is considered Russia’s most important secular holiday. While Western nations commemorate the end of World War II on May 8, Russia observes the occasion a day later, on May 9, in honor of the Soviet Union’s immense wartime sacrifice—estimated at over 20 million civilian and military deaths from across its former republics.