Putin's speech at the Victory Day Parade today: what the president will say on May 9, 2025, watch the address online

On May 9, 2025, Russia celebrates its 80th anniversary since the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Traditionally, a parade will be held on Red Square in the morning. Before the demonstration of troops and military equipment begins, Russian President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin will deliver a speech. Read more about this in the Izvestia article.

Speeches by the President as a tradition of the Victory Day Parade

The speech of the head of state, who also serves as Commander—in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is a special part of the Victory Day Parade. The first speech at the parade in 1945 was delivered by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Joseph Stalin.

Curiously, May 9th was not always a day off, although it always remained a holiday. Traditionally, in the first years after the Victory, rallies and solemn meetings were held on this day, not parades.

Since the tradition of holding a Victory Day parade on May 9 became annual in 1995, the march has always opened with the words of the head of state.

What did Putin say at the Red Square parades?

In his speech on May 9, Vladimir Putin notes the historical importance of this day and the Victory in the Great Patriotic War for the fate of Russia. There are words of gratitude addressed to those who fought and words in memory of those who died.

As the President emphasized more than once: "Those who fought during the Great Patriotic War, gave their lives for our country, for our Motherland, for today, so that it would be preserved as such, so that new and new generations would appear in our country, they accomplished a feat. But they still commit it, even those who died defending the Fatherland. Why? Because the memory of their feat is one of the essential principles of our entire multinational people. To a large extent, this is Russia, because the historical memory of what happened in the past, what is now, sets us up for what can and should be in the future. Only by understanding the price we have paid for our present and our tomorrow, only by understanding the price and what our ancestors, our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, even grandmothers, did to protect their homeland, only by understanding the price it was done, we can understand who we are, where we came from, what is our country. And only in this case it is possible to correctly determine the future and priorities of our actions for today, the medium term and for the longer term."

Since 2022, Vladimir Putin's speech also concerns the fate of the current defenders of the Fatherland who are fighting in the special operation zone.

Now, when the West is trying to distort the history of Russia, including its role in the Victory in 1945, the president's speech has a special political and cultural significance.

Vladimir Putin's family History

For Vladimir Putin, the Victory Day Parade and the Great Patriotic War itself are of great personal importance, because his father Vladimir Spiridonovich volunteered at the front and defended Nevsky Piglet, which became a symbol of courage, heroism and self-sacrifice of Soviet soldiers.

It was there that Vladimir Spiridonovich was seriously injured and lived with shrapnel in his leg all his life. The war claimed the life of the president's older brother, Viktor, who was only two years old at the time.

Putin's address today, on the 80th anniversary of Victory: what the president will say

On the 80th anniversary of the Victory, the heads of more than 20 countries gathered in the capital of Russia. Addressing them on May 8 with a welcoming speech, Vladimir Putin stressed that May 9 is a sacred date for the multinational people of Russia, and that the Soviet Union played a decisive role in defeating Nazism.

In his speech opening the Victory Day Parade, Vladimir Putin is highly likely to talk about the continuity between the Great Patriotic War and the special military operation. Kirill Kazakov, a political scientist and graduate student at the Department of Theory and History of International Relations at the RUDN University, shared this opinion with Izvestia.

— As it was 80 years ago, our country is facing a broad coalition of Western forces seeking to inflict a crushing defeat on Russia and impose its vision of the world order. The president is also likely to note the symbolic intersections between the Second World War and the CBO. For example, how the Ukrainian military and Western mercenaries actively use Nazi symbols, including the collaborationist formations of the SS and other allies of the Reich. The symbolic significance of the Battle for the Kursk region during the CBO, which is as important as the Battle of Kursk during the Great Patriotic War, will also be noted," the expert argues.

Where and at what time is Putin's speech today, May 9, 2025

The Victory Day Parade begins on May 9 at 10:00 a.m. with the removal of the flag and banner of Russia. Then the President's speech is heard, followed by a minute of silence in memory of the victims. Thus, the speech of the head of state can be heard at 10:00 Moscow time.

The 2025 Victory Day Parade will be broadcast on Russia's main TV channels, including Channel One, Rossiya 1, REN TV, and others. The live broadcast can also be viewed on the Izvestia website.

The broadcast starts at 10:00 Moscow time.