People across Russia lit up candles and attended wreath-laying ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis on Saturday, June 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

June 22 marks the annual Day of Memory and Sorrow in Russia. On this day in 1941, the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany and began the Great Patriotic War that lasted until 1945. /VCG Photo

In Moscow, people lay flowers and candles at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall on Saturday, June 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

Russian cadets attend a memorial ceremony at the Eternal Flame memorial in Vladivostok on Saturday, June 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

Police officers in Volgograd hold candles as they take part in a ceremony at the Mamayev Kurgan memorial on Friday, June 21, 2019. /VCG Photo