MOSCOW: Russia on Monday staged a grandiose military parade through Moscow's Red Square as part of nationwide celebrations to mark 71 years since the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Some 10,000 troops, tanks and nuclear missile systems swept across Red Square's cobblestones in front of President Vladimir Putin, senior officials and a handful of war veterans.

Putin addressed the troops, congratulating them on a holiday that traditionally unites Russians across political divides.

An estimated 27 million of the former Soviet Union's soldiers and civilians were killed in World War II and the Red Army's triumph in the war is viewed as a huge source of pride in Russia.