Victory Day

No, I'm not a day late, I know VE day was yesterday. However, the armistice was signed late at night on the 8th, meaning in the Soviet Union it was already early morning, hence 9th of May being the day when victory is marked. I spent 5 years living in Russia, so make sure to mark it in some small way myself. To this day it is a public holiday, there are military and veterans parades. In the street you will see your elderly neighbours, male and female, with their medals on, and people going up to them and say thank you. Women fought alongside men in in many different areas, not least in the partisans, and in the airforce, none of the transporting planes the women got to do in the UK, Soviet women flew combat missions too, and often in the oldest, most dangerous planes. Today's blip is the ribbon from an Order of St. George, the highest military honour in Russia. People wear this ribbon on 9th May in the same way Brits wear poppies in November. We talk about the 2nd World War, but if you look at its effect on the countries of the Soviet Union, it is humbling. Estimates vary but looking at various sources, Belarus lost a quarter of her pre-war population, and overall the Soviet Union lost almost 14% of the pre-war population, or around 10million soldiers and around 15 million civilians. For comparison the UK lost around 384,000 soldiers and around 67,000 civilians. We will remember them, soldiers and civilians who fought and died for their countries, whatever country that might be.