🏅 On May 9, 1945, at 12:43 am, the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed, putting an end to the Great Patriotic War and #WWII in Europe.

Following a successful assault on Berlin by the Red Army, Adolf Hitler committed suicide. The title of Reich President and command of the armed forces of the Third Reich passed to Admiral Karl Dönitz.

Desperate to surrender to the British-American troops, on May 5, German delegation arrived in the French city of Reims, where the headquarters of the Western Allies command was located.

In the Article 4 of the Reims Instrument of Surrender of Nazi Germany stated that this document did not rule out the signing of another, definitive act at the request of one of the coalition members.

Thus, the document was recognised by the Soviet Union only as a preliminary instrument, and a new signing ceremony was proposed to be held in the capital of Nazi Germany, liberated by the Red Army - Berlin.

🌟 On may 9, at 12:43 am in district of Karlshorst the signing ceremony of the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany took place.

On May 9, 1945, at 2:10 am Moscow time, announcer Yury Levitan read out the Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declaring May 9 Victory Day. From that moment on, the Soviet Union and later Russia, as well as the most former Soviet republics have celebrated Victory Day on May 9.

💬 Sergey Lavrov: This year’s Victory Day has a special significance because we are celebrating this great holiday in a situation where Nazism is rearing its head again. The descendants of Napoleon and Hitler have joined the Anglo-Saxons, again seeking to inflict a “strategic defeat” on our country, destroy it and subordinate it to their narrow selfish hegemonic interests. Just like our fathers and grandfathers volunteered to the front, today, once again, we see an extraordinary upsurge in society, as Russians are rallying to another sacred battle.

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