A military parade dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of Victory over Nazism will take place in Dushanbe on May 9.

An official source at the Ministry of Defense (MoD) says more than 2,000 servicemen will be on the military parade that will be held in Dushanbe’s Victory Park.

According to him, servicemen of the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan will also participate in the military parade in Dushanbe.     

Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General, Sherai Mirzo and Defense Minister Adviser, Major-General Latif Fayziyev will command the parade, the sources said.  

President Emomali Rahmon, members of the government, parliamentarians and representatives of diplomatic corps will attend the parade.  Those present will lay wreaths at the Military Glory Memorial.   

After the military parade, the oath taking ceremony of 3,000 conscripts is expected to take place. 

Recall, Tajik authorities have decided not to go ahead with a march called the Immortal Regiment to mark the anniversary of the World War II victory over Nazi Germany. 

Tajik national news agency Khovar reported on May 4 that the decision was prompted by security concerns and "Islamic traditions that do not approve of the public display of pictures of deceased people."

In 2016, Tajikistan for the first time held a march of World War II veterans and younger Tajiks holding portraits of relatives who died in the war.  The march was inspired by a similar one in Russia.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ is a public non-profit organization, created in Russia on a voluntary basis with the aim of "immortalizing" the memory of home front workers, partisans and members of the resistance, concentration camp prisoners, survivors of the Siege of Leningrad and children of war.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ brings together people of all ages, social groups and political beliefs.  Anyone can carry on the memory of war veterans and enroll to participate in the march to honor the memory of those who earned the hard-won victory in 1945.

Since its inception in 2007, the ‘Immortal Regiment’ initiative has been met with unprecedented support, and by 2015 it had received national status.   

The Republican Council of Veterans of War and Labor of Tajikistan says only 443 Tajik veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 are estimated to be still alive. 

More than 300,000 residents of Tajikistan took part in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and 92,000 of them died in battle.  54 of residents of Tajikistan were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.  Besides, 15 other Tajikistan’s residents were Full Holders of the Order of Glory.

Victory Day marks the end of World War II in Europe, specifically the capitulation of Nazi forces to the Allies (the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, France, the United States and other principal Allied nations) on May 8, 1945.

In Russia and other countries of former Soviet Union, the day of Victory over Nazi Germany was celebrated on May 9, because when the German Instrument of Surrender actually entered into force (May 8, 1945 at 23:01 CET), it was already May 9 by Moscow Time.  Post-Soviet countries have continued the tradition.