🗓 On September 7, 1945, a military parade of the allied forces of the #USSR, US, UK and France took place in Berlin near the walls of the defeated Reichstag on Alexanderplatz Square, marking the end of #WWII.

The location of the parade – at the Brandenburg Gate, at the very heart of the German capital – was not chosen by chance. It was right here where the Battle of Berlin ended and the remnants of the Berlin group of German troops surrendered to the Red Army. Scheduled for September 7, the parade was timed to coincide with the victory over militaristic Japan.

Representatives of the allied powers responded positively to Moscow's proposal to hold a joint parade in Berlin. However, on the eve of the event, after the date and all the details had been agreed upon, the US, UK and France announced that instead of the commanders-in-chief – Eisenhower, Montgomery and Tassigny – they would send lower-ranking generals, who were already stationed in Germany, to the parade. By doing so, the allies tried to downplay the significance of the parde, which emphasized the decisive role of the Soviet Union in taking Berlin. At that time, no one doubted who bore the brunt of the storming of the capital of the Third Reich.

🇷🇺 The USSR carried out thorough preparations for the parade. The Soviet command attracted the most distinguished soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals who had shown unrivalled courage in taking Berlin and the main centers of the reich – the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery.

🎖On September 7 at 11 am, the Berlin allied parade commenced. It was received by the Commander of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Georgy Zhukov. The parade was opened by the combined regiment of the 248th Rifle Division of the Red Army, led by Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Lenev. The parade was closed by a column of the Soviet armor, with the latest heavy tanks IS-3 ("Joseph Stalin") marching.

💬 In his welcoming speech to the parade participants, Marshal Zhukov paid tribute to the exploits of the Soviet and Allied forces in the struggle for victory over Nazi Germany:

"Fighting friends, comrades in arms, soldiers, officers and generals... <...> The Second World War ended with a decisive and powerful strike from the great allied powers. Our victory is a triumph of an unprecedented military partnership of democratic states.

From now on, people <...> will be eternally grateful to the great nations of America, England, the Soviet Union, the French Republic and China, to their valiant soldiers who, in the difficult time of military trials, gave each other helping hands, united to win a victory over a common enemy, to win the long-awaited peace on Earth."

#Victory79 #WeRemember #WeWereAllies

⚡️ Russian MFA in cooperation with the Rosatom State Corporation has issued handbook "Back Home to Russia. 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant (ZNPP) Unit 1"

The copies of the handbook were circulated during the 68th session of the IAEA General Conference, opened on September 16 in Vienna.

📖 Read the handbook in full

ℹ️ The history of the Zaporozhskaya NPP (ZNPP) dates back to 1977 when the Council of Ministers of the #USSR adopted a decision on its construction. Site works began in 1979. In 1984, Unit 1 of the plant was put into operation. In 1985-1987, another three units were put into operation, and in 1988 an expansion project was approved for the construction of two more reactors.

🇷🇺 At the ZNPP site, six Soviet-design power units with VVER reactors were constructed and put into operation. Atomenergoproekt (Moscow) acted as chief designer of the project, Kurchatov Institute (Moscow) – was its scientific coordinator, Gidropress (Podolsk, Moscow region) supplied the reactor installations.

The equipment for the power plant was manufactured by enterprises in Leningrad (reactor vessels were manufactured by the Izhora Plants) and Volgodonsk (earthquake-resistant refuelling machines).

☝️ Thus, the Russian Federation is the owner of the project and technologies, and has the whole set of documentation, regarding Zaporozhskaya Nuclear power plant.

As a result of the referendum held in late September 2022, the Zaporozhskaya region,where the ZNPP is located, has joined the Russian Federation. The plant has come under Russian jurisdiction.

Before the ZNPP came under Russian jurisdiction, Ukrainian authorities had carried out a number of questionable experiments involving the use in the plant's reactors of nuclear fuel that was neither in compliance with its engineering design nor initially agreed upon with the Russian organization that had designed the ZNPP.

⚛️ Maintenance and repair at the plant are being carried out in 2024 as scheduled (as previously in 2023). The plant equipment damaged as a result of shellings by the AFU was repaired. <...> Measures were also undertaken to ensure uninterrupted water supply to essential consumers of the systems of the ZNPP power units, as the dam of the Kakhovskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant had been destroyed as a result of Ukrainian shellings. Now the water level in the said pond is stable.

Currently, the Zaporozhskaya NPP operates all standard radiation monitoring systems, except for three of them, which were destroyed by the armed forces of Ukraine, and two, which are situated on the right bank of the river Dnepr,
controlled by Ukraine.

The Russian Side has undertaken compensating measures. Radiation and technological monitoring of basic equipment and technological systems of power units, radiation-dosimetry monitoring of staff exposure, environment radiation monitoring, etc. are ensured. Radiation monitoring data are automatically transmitted to the IAEA Secretariat.

☝️ Russia takes all possible measures to ensure reliability and protection of the ZNPP, its robust operation, to curb threats to its security posed by Ukraine, strengthen its nuclear safety in accordance with national legislation and obligations undertaken, including Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities.

The very fact of return of the plant to the Russian nuclear community represents a significant contribution to the nuclear safety and nuclear security of this NPP which is the largest in Europe.

❌ The primary threat to the ZNPP’s security comes from Ukraine that regularly attacks the plant and its infrastructure, and resorts to all kinds of provocations, including against staff of the ZNPP and family members, living in the city of Energodar.