Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Belarus has ignored calls to avoid large rallies and introduce social distancing, and has organized a massive military parade in its capital, Minsk, to commemorate Victory Day on May 9.
"In this crazy and disoriented world, there will be people who will condemn us for the time and place of this sacred act," said Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus.
"Do not rush to conclude or condemn us, descendants of the Belarusian victory. We could not have acted differently. We had no choice. And even if we had had one, we would have done likewise, "he added.
Although the virus epidemic has forced many European countries to soften the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, thousands of spectators, including World War II veterans, have flocked to the streets of Minsk, where more than 3,000 soldiers and 185 military vehicles marched.
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While Lukashenko defends its patriotic objective, the country has registered to date nearly 23,000 cases and 131 deaths. While the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 is small compared to the cases of Covid-19 worldwide, Belarus has one of the fastest growing infection rates in Europe.
The Belarusian president did not approve the European model of containment of the virus, because the country did not introduce blocking and social distancing measures and kept its borders open.
Lukashenko sees the virus as a massive "psychosis" that could be treated with vodka or sauna, playing hockey, or farming.
At the same time, the celebrations in Russia have been postponed indefinitely, as there were no parades in Red Square, but an air takeoff over Moscow. The country's president, Vladimir Putin, who laid flowers on the grave of the unknown soldier in the capital, promised a military parade later this year.
"We will have our main parade on Red Square and the national march of the immortal regiment: the march of our grateful memory and the inextricable, vital and living communication between the generations," he said.