Eurasian countries mark 70th anniversary of victory of WWII

Russia, Britain, France, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Georgia have held activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of World War II (WWII).

Russia held a large-scale military parade at the Red Square on Saturday.

The parade, the largest since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, was attended by about 20 leaders of foreign nations and international organizations with the participation of military units from 10 countries, including China.

May 9 is an annual commemorative day in Russia for the victory in the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for WWII.

Serbia held a ceremony named "Awakening of Freedom" in Belgrade to honor all allied armies that fought against Nazi Germany. The Victory Day parade in Moscow was broadcast at the Republic Square in Belgrade. Wreaths were laid at the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade and an exhibition "Art as Resistance to Fascism" was held at the Museum of Yugoslavian History in the capital city.

The celebration was attended by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, other government officials and members of parliament, foreign envoys as well as several thousand citizens.

In Bishkeke, more than 2,000 Kyrgyz troops marched in rain across Ala-Too square on Saturday in a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of victory.

"The Soviet Union offered great contributions and at the same time we also need to take into account China's contribution to the victory. Chinese troops held back the Japanese militarists, preventing them from breaking into the territory of Central Asia," a Kyrgyz scholar said.

China and the Soviet Union were two major battlefields of WWII. In 1945, the Soviet army came to the aid of China in its war against Japanese aggression.

In Armenia, dozens of military servicemen, young people, scholars and residents took part in celebrations at the Victory Park in the capital city of Yerevan.

Georgia on Saturday marked the 70th anniversary of victory of World War II in the capital of Tbilisi.

Thousands of people, including white-haired WWII veterans, gathered before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of World War II at Vake Park of Tbilisi.

Georgia fought in the Second World War as part of the former Soviet Union and contributed more than 700,000 soldiers to the Soviet army and lost half of them in battlefields in various parts of the European front.