Russia won the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II and conducted a large-scale military parade in Moscow's Red Square.

President Vladimir Putin attended the meeting with foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a spectacle of "Victory Day" celebrated on May 9 and the most important secular holiday in Russia.

The march and other rituals have laid into the fourth year that Moscow has been working to project its global power and consolidate its alliance while seeking a balance to the West in the conflict in Ukraine.

The struggle against the Nazis in World War II - known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War - was a rare event in the country's secession history under communism and respected by all political groups. Putin used this sentiment to encourage national pride and emphasized Russia's status as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in the fight against German troops in 1941-45, a huge sacrifice that left deep scars in the national psychology.

Speaking during the march, Putin praised the Russian army for fighting in Ukraine, saying: "We are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual strength, and their spiritual strength, to bring us victory."

The event features at least 11,500 soldiers and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armored infantry vehicles and artillery used on the Ukrainian battlefield. To remind Russia of its nuclear power, the launcher of the YARS nuclear pointed intercontinental ballistic missile spans the red square.

Fighter planes from the Air Force's aerobatics flew around the ground at close range, followed by jets, dropping smoke in the color of the national flag.

After the performance, Putin shook hands with the Russian officer. He also spoke with a group of senior North Korean officers who held medals, watching the parade and embracing one of them.

Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting the Ukrainian forces and praised their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed their deployment for the first time.

Putin announced a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire from May 8, which coincided with the Victory Day celebrations, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate against any attacks.

The incidents were covered up by Ukrainian drone attacks against Moscow, which covered the severe damage to the capital's airport.

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot canceled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow on Wednesday morning and delayed at least 140 people as the military was repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.

Russian authorities have strengthened security ahead of the march, and the mobile Internet power outage has been reported in an electronic countermeasure to thwart further drone attacks.