Why 9 May Victory Day is so important for Russia

It has become an annual event - the military parade in Red Square in Moscow and cities across Russia on 9 May, when the country marks its victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Under Vladimir Putin, Victory Day has become a show of strength of troops and military hardware, as well as a chance to remember the sacrifices of World War Two. Twenty-seven million Soviet citizens died, by far the greatest loss of any country, in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.