Russia is holding its biggest public
holiday the victory parade marking the
75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi
Germany in World War two despite a
growing number of coronavirus infections
the parade is usually held on May the
9th but was delayed because of the
pandemic this year's event holds special
significance for President Putin because
in a week's time Russia will hold a
constitutional vote which could allow
him to stay in power until 2036 our
correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been
watching the event in Red Square
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[Music]
it was the parade the Kremlin had been
determined to stage on Red Square
Russian military mites marking 75 years
since the defeat of Nazi Germany it had
been postponed once due to the pandemic
but the president had pledged the parade
would go ahead when possible to honor
Russia's contribution in World War two
we've CW morning we will always remember
that Nazism was crushed by the Soviet
people by millions of people of
different ethnicities from all republics
of the Soviet Union failure to cover say
you know masks for the military and no
social distancing but the Kremlin
insists this was safe now there's a
controversial one the kremlin leader
claims that the coronavirus is in
retreat but it's not eating the city of
moscow alone is registering around 1,000
open cases every day so why did madame
it Putin decide the military show must
go on
partly because Russia's victory in World
War two has become a cornerstone of the
country's national idea but more
crucially the president is hoping the
parade boosts his popularity ahead of a
referendum on extending his rule voting
starts tomorrow war veteran nikolai yard
court wasn't worried
Vera's podium will beat the virus he
says just like we defeated the Nazis
first though it's fighting talk like
that the Kremlin is keen to encourage
Steve Rosenberg BBC news Moscow well
earlier I spoke to our Moscow
correspondent Sarah Rainsford who
explained what the public reaction has
been to the parade going ahead this was
a parade that was staged in cities right
across the country
fewer than it would normally be in a non
coronavirus year some places decided it
wasn't safe to go ahead but dozens a
couple of dozen cities did staged this
parade and interestingly here in Moscow
as in those cities mass gatherings
public gatherings are still banned
because of the risk of coronavirus but
in fact here in Moscow plenty of people
did come out on the streets to watch the
tanks roll by they rolled down the Main
Street here in Moscow before they head
to Red Square and they came out too to
see the flyby of both some 75 planes and
helicopters again marking 75 years this
is a big national holiday in Russia it
is a major day on the the calendar so
people did want to market but of course
there is still that very real risk of
the coronavirus and even though many of
the restrictions have been relaxed in
recent days there moscow the risk
and of course that vote is going to take
place next week
what's his popularity like at the moment
well I think that's key to the timing of
this vote because you might argue that
there's no need for a vote on
constitutional reforms right now no
urgent desperate political need for that
apart from one thing
President Putin desperately wants it
seems to have a votes which will allow
him when the Constitution is changed if
that's voted for to stand for president
two more times he could be President
here in Russia if he chooses until 2036
now the reason for the haste well
possibly it is because his racing has
been falling recently and I think he
knows that things aren't going to get
any better the coronavirus of course has
hit the economy here in Russia as it has
affected countries right around the
world and things weren't great before
the pandemic and I think the worry is
that going coming out of the pandemic
things could be more difficult so better
to get that boat done now than wait too
long
that was our Moscow correspondent Sarah
Rainsford there