Belarus hosted a series of commemorative events on Thursday, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of World War II.

Representatives from all walks of life in Belarus gathered at the Victory Square in Minsk and laid flowers at the Victory Monument.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko attended the rally after returning from Moscow where he watched the military parade on Red Square in the morning.

He said the Belarusian people will always remember the dead, and will never forget the names of the martyrs and the glory of their defenders and liberators.

Lukashenko sent congratulatory messages to the leaders and people of some former Soviet republics, and called on the Ukrainian people to commemorate a glorious chapter of their common history and resist attempts to rewrite the results of the Great Patriotic War.

Commemorative activities were also held in other Belarusian cities.

Nazi Germany officially signed the act of unconditional surrender in a suburb of Berlin on the night of May 8, 1945, Berlin time, which was the early hours of May 9 Moscow time. The Soviet Union declared May 9 "Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War." Today, Victory Day is one of the most important holidays in Russia and Belarus.