This year's Victory Day Parade was bigger and lasted longer than any parade in the past decade (Vitaly V. Kuzmin/Wikimedia Commons)

Putin’s first visit to the newly Russian Crimea coincides with an important day for Russians, the annual Victory Day parade, which marks the Soviet victory in 1945 over Nazi Germany.

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Unlike most Victory Day parades, however, which are dedicated to remembering the sacrifices of the millions of Russians who died in the 2nd World War, this year’s parade was more like a party. Residents of Sevastopol came out and cheered as soldiers marched past in lock step, proudly wearing their new orange and white ribbons that celebrate the “return of Crimea.”

Putin said in a speech reported on by the BBC that “I am sure that 2014 will go into the annals of our whole country as the year when the nations living here firmly decided to be together with Russia, affirming fidelity to the historical truth and the memory of our ancestors,” as Russian built MIG fighter aircraft roared overhead. 

Read the full story on the BBC.

Reach Supervising Executive Producer Christopher Coppock by email.