The Immortal Regiment (Russian: Бессмертный полк, romanized: Bessmertnyy polk) is a massive civil event in major cities in Russia and around the world every 9 May during the Victory Day celebrations.

[5] The war became a topic of great importance in cinema, literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts.

The earliest known was held in 1965, marking the 20th anniversary, when students of Novosibirsk school number 121 walked through the streets of the city with photographs of participants in the war.

A procession of mothers in black robes with portraits of their dead sons (the idea belonged to the director Yulia Sinelnikova) took place in the Rostov Oblast.

[14] A column of city residents passed through the streets of Tomsk, who carried placards with photographs of their relatives who fought in the Great Patriotic War.

On 9 May 2015, the event took place for the first time on the Red Square, immediately after the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade in honor of the 70th anniversary.

[25] Critics, which even include Igor Dmitriev (the founder of the Immortal Regiment),[26] have primarily alleged that the procession has turned into an attempt by the government to promote its own domestic and foreign policies, rather than to honor the memories of the millions who perished in the war.

[28] At the end of summer and autumn of 2018, various left-wing forces organized the "Shameful Regiment" marches, on which photographs of prominent political figures who supported raising the retirement age.

An opinion was expressed that it was done so due to fear that portraits of killed during the Russo-Ukrainian war will be carried and this can possibly lead to anti-war protests.

[47][48] Four days later member of the organizational committee of the Immortal Regiment Elena Tsunaeva announced that Russia has decided to cancel the march.

[49] The procession is also done in the following countries: Many of the traditions and customs in Israel during Victory in Europe Day are the same as in Russia, with Immortal Regiment marches being held in cities with large populations of Red Army veterans and their descendants.