Each of the contingents, since 1996, carry historical military colors of the 1942 (Red Army, Soviet Air Force, People's Militia) and 1932–1944 (Navy) patterns at the head of their formations honoring the millions of men and women who served in the ranks of the military and law enforcement services of the former Soviet Union during the long period of the Eastern Front of the Second World War, and the millions among them who were either killed or were missing in action.

The celebrations begin at 9:55 am Moscow Standard Time with the arrival of the President and the Prime Minister of Russia to a special grandstand in front of Lenin's Mausoleum, where six of the past parades were reviewed by national leaders.

In between the grandstand to the south of the stands are two platoons of armed linemen and markers from the 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment in the Imperial-styled military uniforms and some unarmed half-companies of the Kremlin Regiment, both of which would be later taking post to mark the distance of the troops marching past and to line the square's western side facing the Kremlin together with extra drum majors from the Band Service, which are there to coordinate the march past to be timed in with the music of the bands since the parade of 1995.

Then the Minister of Defence (usually a billet of a General of the Army) is driven on the limousine to the center of the square nearest the tribune, the parade presenting arms again at this point.

As the limousines stop the Minister sends Victory Day greetings to each of the parading contingents, in which they respond with a threefold loud Oorah that is heard all over the grounds.

the Corps of Drums of the Moscow Military Music College, as is their tradition since 1938, march first to the tune of the "General Miloradovich" by one of its late alumni, Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov, one of the longest-serving Senior Directors of Music of the Military Band Service and conductor of the Moscow area massed bands from 2002 to 2016, being played by the drummers and fifers.

In 2020, it was confirmed that foreign servicemen from the armed forces of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will take part in the parade in Yekaterinburg,[11] as well an 80-man contingent from Armenia in Rostov-on-Don,[12][13] plans which were later scrapped.

Despite this it is generally considered that the first parade in honor of the victory in Vladivostok on Svetlanskaya Street took place in 1918 dedicated to the First World War, attended by British, American and French troops.

[29] Because the 2020 celebrations in honor of the holiday and Shushi Liberation Day were cancelled by order of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a fly past of the Armenian Air Force was held at the Mother Armenia monument.

As a result of the mass immigration of many Red Army veterans, Israel now hosts the largest and most extensive Victory Day celebrations outside the former Soviet space.

The traditions and customs of Victory Day are the same as in Russia, with marches of Immortal Regiments held in cities with large populations of Red Army veterans and their descendants, particularly in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.

Celebrating the golden jubilee of the victory, it was held on Republic Square and was presided by the Minister of Defence, Army General Sagadat Nurmagambetov.

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered the cancellation of that year's parade due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that affected the country.

[51] Moldova On 15 April 2020, Moldovan President Igor Dodon ordered the postponement of the diamond jubilee Victory Day celebrations on 9 May, the main event of which was supposed to be the Victory Parade on Great National Assembly Square, to Liberation Day (24 August) due to the coronavirus pandemic in Moldova, marking also the 76th anniversary of national liberation in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive of 1944.

On 10 May 2019, the first Victory Day Parade of the Serbian Armed Forces in close to 35 years was held in the city of Niš (branded as "The Defence of Freedom").

[56][57][58][59] Tajikistan Victory Day parades of the 201st Motor Rifle Division in the Tajik SSR were held on Dousti Square in the capital of Dushanbe in 1965 and 1985.

[63][64][65][66] Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan took part in the parade,[67] which was held at a square in front of the Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex in the capital of Ashgabat, with a special appearance by Russian Deputy Minister of Defence Alexander Fomin.

The first official proposal to celebrate Victory Day with a parade appeared at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine on 27 March 1945.

Parades have also been held on a regular basis in the cities of Odesa, Kharkiv, and Lviv, usually taking the form of a small march past nowadays rather than a full ceremony.

The planned parade was cancelled for the first time in 2014 by order of the Kyiv City State Administration in light of the start Russo-Ukrainian War and the holiday's Russian connotations.

Only in the separatist-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of the country, since 2015, do the people completely celebrate the traditional Victory Day parades with military vehicles and servicemen and women marching past the main squares of the two cities.

Uzbekistan In 2018, a Victory Parade of the Tashkent Military District was held on its training ground in Chirchik on the occasion of Day of Remembrance and Honour.

The inaugural parade was held at Artem Street on Lenin Square and was criticized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for violating the Minsk Protocol.

The parade commander gives the order to begin the review of the Minsk Garrison by the Defence Minister of Belarus, the parade presenting arms at that juncture and the massed bands of the Minsk Garrison under the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus beginning to play inspection music under the baton of the Senior Director of Music.

The Defense Minister, having now been duly notified, then reviews the parading troops along the avenue in his vehicle, stopping a few times to send holiday greetings to a 4,000 strong ground column formation from the armed forces and other uniformed organizations while the massed bands play inspection music.

He meets with members of the National Security and Defense Council, the Supreme Commander in Chief's Staff, representatives of the Armed Forces General Staff and the Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and its vice chairmen, the secretary general, sergeant at arms, faction leaders and floor leaders, and the living veterans of the war who are assembled on the grandstand near the Independence Monument.

Also gathered there is the diplomatic corps, military attaches, family members of war victims and representatives of veterans organizations, government agencies, state-owned companies and the private sector.

At the end of the flag raising, the parade orders arms and a moment of silence is observed in honor of all the victims of the Second World War in Ukraine and the Ukrainian heroes of that conflict.

[93] Full order of the parade: It was on the large expanse of Prague's Letná Plain (Letenská pláň), a large employ field that every 5 years on 9 May from 1951 to 1985 (formerly yearly until the 1960s) witnessed parades of the Czechoslovak People's Army in the federal capital of Czechoslovakia following a mix of the Soviet style and its own traditions in its grounds, celebrating both the victory in Europe and the conclusion of the successful Prague Uprising.

[97][98] At the main grandstand attached to Letná Stadium were members of the Party Central Committee, the Cabinet, the Federal Assembly leadership and the chairmen of its two chambers, senior officers of the Ministry of National Defence and the General Staff, representatives of Soviet Armed Forces formations based in the republic and the diplomatic corps.