(Editorial by Nhan Dan Newspaper): Sixty years ago on May 9, 1945, Marshal Wilhelm von Keitel and other German military leaders signed surrender document in the presence of Marshal Georgi Zhukov of Soviet Union and other Allied commanders.

Since then, May 9 becomes a yearly important event among the nationalities within the Soviet Union to mark the great victory which ended the World War II. This is the glorious victory created by the Soviet people and armed forces after many years of fighting to defend their country, contributing an important part to liberating the humanity from the yoke of the most brutal fascism in the world history.

President Ho Chi Minh once confirmed that "During World War II, the Soviet Union smashed the huge military forces of the aggressive fascists, the forces which had made careful preparations with the support of all imperialist nations. The Soviet Union has saved the world from the enslavement of the barbarous Hitler clique and made a decisive blow against the key forces of the Japanese militarists. The aggressive fascists were smashed despite their modern weapons and long preparations to launch the cruelest war the world has seen."

Progressive people across the world remember forever the undaunted and immortal victory created by the heroic people and armed forces in the Soviet Union during World War Two. The Soviet people of different nationalities and the young socialist State in the 1930s had to face a largest and cruelest war in the human history, and won a glorious victory, smashing the cruel fascist force which had once ruled the roost on all European battlefields. This victory not only reaffirmed the great victory of the Soviet land, home of the October Revolution, but also reaffirmed the strength and superiority of the socialist system on all the diplomatic, military, economic and political fronts.

After the victory of the Red Army, the Soviet Union became a strong-hold and pillar of world peace which helped many countries to continue their struggle for peace, national independence and socialism. It was also a victory for progressive and democratic forces which lifted the humanity from the danger of genocide and protected human civilisation.

The victory of the Soviet Union created favourable conditions for the people in the dependent and colonial countries to speed up their national liberation movement. A series of independent nations were set up within three decades following the end of World War II. The victory of the Soviet Union supported the Vietnamese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Great President Ho Chi Minh, to launch the successful August Revolution which saw the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, ushering in a new era in the country’s history, the era of national independence and socialism.

World War II was the cruelest war in the human history and spread to four continents and four oceans with the involvement of 76 nations including 1.7 billion people. The devastation of the war was equal to the wars from the previous one thousand years. The war claimed the lives of 60 million people and injured over 90 million. The total expenses were estimated at US $1,384 billion and the material losses reached US $4,000 billion. The Soviet people suffered the highest losses caused by the war with 27 million deaths and thousands of destroyed cities, towns and villages.

The progressive humanity will bear in mind forever the deep lessons drawn from the war. The victory of the Soviet people and army in their war for national defence is the victory of the young socialist regime which had been able to mobilise the ever great spiritual and material resources to fight against brutal fascism and militarism. It is the war of the entire Soviet people who had shown their close solidarity to strive for socialism. During the hard days of the war, all nationalities in the Soviet Union united into a strong block to protect the fruits of the October Revolution, overcoming innumerable difficulties and challenges.

One of the decisive factors for the victory was the leadership of the Russian Communist Party. The immortal merits created by the Russian people and Red Army also affirmed the outstanding military talents of the Soviet leaders and army commanders and the matchless heroism of the whole Soviet people during 1,418 days of fierce fighting.

World War II has passed long ago, however it still reminds the younger generations that the nature of the imperialism changes regularly in the same manner of attempting to invade and oppose on others and interfere into their internal affairs. In the world today, there still exists the hostile forces whose clear plots and actions are launched to rule the world through power and modern weapons of mass destruction. Conflicts between religions and nationalities and violent activities are occurring. Some forces continue their attempt of pressing power, interfering in internal affairs and violating sovereignty and the integrity of other nations through wicked actions. Therefore, freedom and justice loving people in the world need to further unite to promote the struggle for a sustainable and long run peace on the earth.

In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the victory over the fascists, the Vietnamese people are determined to work with progressive people in the world to preserve and promote the values, namely peace, national independence, democracy and development won by the international community and the Vietnamese people. It is believed that the joint efforts of all nations in the world will retain these values forever.