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Russia to hold Victory Day parade on 24 June, says Vladimir Putin

<span>Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/Tass</span>
Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/Tass

Vladimir Putin has said Russia will hold its postponed Victory Day military parade on 24 June and declared that the country’s coronavirus outbreak has stabilised, on the same day as it posted a record death toll from the virus.

The decision to hold the parade in a month’s time is likely to mean thousands of soldiers being scrambled to begin rehearsals for the complex event, while millions of Russians remain under strict orders to shelter at home.

The rate of infections in Russia has begun to slow, according to official data, although the country still has the third highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus after the US and Brazil.

Russia said on Tuesday that another 174 people had died from coronavirus, the worst single day death toll yet, although lower than other countries with similar rates of infection.

Putin, speaking with senior officials during a conference call, ordered the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, to prepare to hold the military parade next month, an event that in normal years brings together more than 10,000 soldiers from around Russia, as well as foreign delegations and war veterans.

Soldiers march through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow in May 2019
Soldiers march through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow in May 2019. Photograph: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images

“I order preparations to begin for the military parade in honour of the 75th anniversary of Victory Day in the capital, Moscow, and in other cities,” Putin said, adding that the situation “in the country as a whole, in most regions and in the armed forces is stable”.

He noted that the new date matched the “legendary, historic” Victory Day parade of 1945. Putin also said he hoped the country could hold “Immortal Regiment” marches in late July, where nearly 1 million Russians gather in public to march holding images of family members who fought in the war.

Putin was forced to postpone the 9 May parade in April after it became clear the Covid-19 pandemic would make celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany a health hazard. The event is an important public and political holiday and the Kremlin had hoped to host the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and China’s Xi Jinping at the parade. So far the leaders of Moldova and Kazakhstan have confirmed they will attend the rescheduled event.

In April the military said it had quarantined more than 10,000 soldiers, after they had remained at a training grounds outside of Moscow until mid-April, weeks after local officials had instituted distancing measures.

Video from the training grounds leaked in early April showed thousands of soldiers in formation. The Proekt investigative website reported that more than 376 Russian cadets had fallen ill after the rehearsals, although that has not been confirmed by Russia’s military. Shoigu told Putin on Tuesday that in total 5,500 Russian soldiers had fallen ill with coronavirus since March.

Russia has the third largest outbreak of coronavirus in the world behind the US and Brazil, with nearly 350,000 total cases reported. Officials have boasted about low mortality rates for the disease in Russia, although they have warned that death rates from the virus would rise considerably in new data published this month.

In several regions, a considerable number of deaths ascribed to pneumonia have not been counted among Russia’s official tally of coronavirus deaths.

Several dozen Russian regions have begun relaxing coronavirus quarantine measures, but the country is still identifying between 8,000 and 9,000 cases of coronavirus each day.

Putin said: “I order you to ensure the strictest security standards while preparing for the parade. The risks for all participants must be kept to a minimum, and better excluded.”