Alexander Lukashenko and his sons take part in festive ceremony at Victory Square

You, those who fell on battlefields, those who died of wounds, dear veterans have gifted us the never fading light of the Great Victory, a guiding star that will always shine upon many generations of Belarusians and will give us strength to create, to move forward and only forward despite all the complications, hardships, and problems. Their life was much more difficult. Today, they look at us from up high and wonder whether we will survive. We will! Belarus glorifies the heroic veterans and will always remember their deeds. We bow before the selfless labor of those, who came back to the ruins of native cities and villages in order to revive the country from the ashes. We had the hardest fate of all, because nobody was left in this land except for women, children, people with disabilities and exhausted soldiers, who came back from the frontlines. We ploughed and sowed the fields with the help of women and children. There were even no horses left. We will never forget that millions of our compatriots fell on battlefields, perished in death camps, were hanged, shot or tortured to death by gestapo. We remember it and if someone forgets it, we will remind them. We bow our heads low to the memory of those who perished. We mourn for the veterans who have left us. Let us honor our heroes today with a moment of silence

It is unthinkable that at a time when we endeavor to preserve the memory, followers of the occupants and their hangers-on reproach us for militarism and the glorification of the war. Us, the descendants of those, who didn't return from the war, the descendants of every third Belarusian! We have tasted this sorrow more than anyone else and always say that wars are terrible. We don't need a war! Their rationale is obvious. As they dream of global domination, modern neocolonialists deliberately sow national discord, generate bloody conflicts on the planet, and once again try to put brown uniforms on young people. They are doing everything to make us forget about the feats of our grandfathers and about the terrible truth of the war. This is why they try to force upon Belarusians the flags and anthems that have been tarnished by cooperation with Hitler's murderers instead of symbols of the Great Victory, peace, and creation. Today we should openly say that during the Great Patriotic War it was the first time Belarusians had faced a massive and systematic extermination of the civilian population. The blood of many thousands, millions of innocent victims – women, the elderly, and children – is on hands of the fascists, police goons, and other collaborators. The world has to know and remember the tragedy of the Belarusian nation. And we will elevate this matter to the highest international level so that they remembered it. The descendants of the Nazi must not think that once the last witnesses of the genocide of the Belarusian nation and other nations are gone, the historical truth will be gone with them.