Up to one million people world wide will participate in the Immortal Regiment march in May which celebrates the lives of those killed fighting Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War, as Russians call World War II. The event will coincide with the Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin marched holding a sign commemorating his relatives who fought the Nazis.
The Immortal Regiment action was first held in the Siberian city of Tomsk in 2012. In 2013, it was already held in 120 cities with Kazakhstan and Ukrainian joining the event, which gathered a total of about 200,000 people. Last year the Immortal Regiment was joined by Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. This year the event already took place in the United States and is expected to be held several cities of Norway, the German capital of Berlin, Dublin, Beirut, Vienna and other cities, reports Russian state news agency TASS.
Many Russian citizens take the chance to dress as Soviet soldiers during the parade and to reinact events to the war, to take those participating back to the time of the conflict.
According to official data, about 27 million Soviet citizens, including both civilians and servicemen, died in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945, according to TASS.
