An initial document was signed in Reims on 7 May 1945 by Alfred Jodl (chief of staff of the German OKW) for Germany, Walter Bedell Smith, on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and Ivan Susloparov, on behalf of the Soviet High Command, in the presence of French Major-General François Sevez as the official witness.

Joseph Stalin declared that the Soviet Union considered the Reims surrender a preliminary document, and Dwight D. Eisenhower immediately agreed with that.

We agreed with the Allies to consider the Reims protocol as preliminary.A second surrender ceremony was organized in a surviving manor in the outskirts of Berlin late on 8 May, when it was already 9 May in Moscow due to the difference in time zones.

Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, chief of OKW, signed a final German Instrument of Surrender, which was also signed by Marshal Georgy Zhukov, on behalf of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, and Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder, on behalf of the Allied Expeditionary Force, in the presence of General Carl Spaatz and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, as witnesses.

[citation needed] Both the Reims and Berlin instruments of surrender stipulated that forces under German control to cease active operations at 23:01 hours CET on 8 May 1945.

However, due to the difference in Central European and Moscow time zones, the end of war is celebrated on 9 May in the Soviet Union and most post-Soviet countries.

The ritual of the celebration gradually obtained a distinctive character with a number of similar elements: ceremonial meetings, speeches, lectures, receptions and fireworks.

[9][10] Russophone populations in many countries celebrate the holiday regardless of its local status,[11] organize public gatherings and even parades on this day.

[13] RT also broadcasts the parade featuring live commentary, and also airs yet another highlight of the day – the Minute of Silence at 6:55 pm MST, a tradition dating back to 1965.

[citation needed] Because of massive losses among both military and civilians during World War II, Victory Day is one of the most important and emotional dates in Russia.

[56][57] After the fall of the Soviet Union, they quickly fell out of style in Europe and soon became a practice among post-Soviet nations, many of which have large Russian populations.

[59] The Immortal Regiment (Russian: Бессмертный полк; Bessmertniy Polk) is a massive civil event staged in major cities in Russia and around the world every 9 May.

Although Latvia does not officially recognize 9 May, most of the large Russian community informally celebrates the holiday, with trips to the Victory Memorial to Soviet Army being common in Riga, with some diplomats (ambassadors of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus) as well as some politicians (Nils Ušakovs, Alfrēds Rubiks) also taking part.

[64] The law was meant to stop the "glorification of warfare and to stem the propagandist distortions of World War II history often implicit in Victory Day celebrations.

The annual commemoration on Victory Day "of the soldiers who for faith, the Fatherland and the people laid down their lives and all those who died in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945" was established by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1994.

On the eve of the diamond jubilee, President Vladimir Putin, at the request of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, gave a live address broadcast Austrian TV channel ORF.

Made during the Battle of Berlin by soldiers who created it while under battlefield conditions, it has historically been the official symbol of the Victory of the Soviet people against Nazi Germany.

On 9 May, a specially made replica of the Victory Banner is carried by a color guard of the 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment through Red Square.

[74] The Victory Banner was brought to Kyiv from Moscow in October 2004 to take part in the parade in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Ukraine.