In neighboring Russia, what was expected to be a historic celebration was canceled for infection protection reasons. The Russians had to settle for a televised talk with Putin and pictures of a desolate Red Square.
But in Belarus, President Aleksandr Lukashenko made another decision. Despite the pandemic, the day was celebrated on streets and squares in Minsk, to commemorate the memory of the victory and to honor those who fought and died in the fight against Nazism.
4,000 soldiers parade in the Belarusian capital, and war veterans without face masks appeared in places of honor among the flag-waving spectators, reports the AFP news agency. In the air, fighter planes and helicopters flew.
Over 20,000 cases of the infection
Belarus, since the beginning of the pandemic, has had a lukewarm approach to infection prevention measures, and schools and workplaces have been kept open as usual in the country that has now reported over 20,000 cases of the infection.
Lukashenko has previously called the reactions to the infection "psychotic", and urged citizens to bathe sauna and drink vodka to "poison" the virus.
In addition to Belarus, only one country in the former Soviet Union celebrated the victory against Nazi Germany in the usual way: Turkmenistan. However, unlike Belarus, Turkmenistan has not reported a single case of the infection.