Putin on war dead, pandemic in message to Austria

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday gave an address to Austria to celebrate VE Day and the Soviet soldiers who served in World War II.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz invited Putin to say some words for the commemoration.

Putin said the victory over the Nazis had helped to revive an independent and democratic Austrian state.

The Russian president also thanked Austrian citizens and authorities for maintaining more than 200 military burials of 26,000 Soviet soldiers who died during the country's liberation in Spring 1945.

Nazi commanders signed their surrender to Allied forces in a French schoolhouse 75 years ago to the day, ending both World War II in Europe and the Holocaust.

In few regions is VE Day celebrated with more fervor than in the former Soviet Union, whose Red Army paid a terrible toll before the final breakthrough to Berlin.

The end of European warfare, claimed at least 40 million casualties on both sides, came after five years, eight months and six days of strife that overspread the globe.