Those who fought

Those who fought

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A military parade in Moscow’s Red Square this weekend commemorates 70 years since the end of the World War Two in Europe. Blockbuster war films mark the anniversary in Russian cinemas, while photographs and posters are plastered across Moscow to honour Soviet victims, estimated at 27 million people.

One of those who remember the war is Nikolai Melnikov, 92. He stands in front of the Monument to Eleven Sappers near Volokolamsk, 2 hours west of Moscow. As a Red Army soldier, Melnikov took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, which stopped Germany’s advance into the Soviet Union.

. MOSCOW, Russia. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

World War Two veteran and former navy sailor Boris Davydov, 87, also pictured as a young man, stands in front of a BK-433 Soviet military vessel at the Central Armed Forces Museum. Davydov served on a minesweeper in the Black Sea fleet.

. MOSCOW REGION, Russia. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

Retired Lieutenant General Vitaly Rybalka, 92, also pictured as a young man, stands in front of a Yak-9 Soviet fighter aircraft at the Central Air Force Museum. Rybalka, a Soviet military pilot and then air squadron commander, served on the Western and Ukrainian fronts.

. MOSCOW REGION, Russia. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

Former infantry soldier Valentin Barmin, 88, also pictured as a young man, stands in the 28 Panfilov Heroes Memorial Park. Barmin served as a medical troop commander on the Belarusian front.

. MOSCOW REGION, Russia. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

Former tank driver Foma Kryuchkov, 92, also pictured as a young man, stands in front of a T-34 Soviet-made tank. Kryuchkov served as commander of a tank squadron on the Volkhov, Baltic and Leningrad fronts.

. MOSCOW REGION, Russia. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

Former World War Two military engineer Nikolai Melnikov, 92, also pictured as a young man, stands in front of the Monument to Eleven Sappers.