国内英语新闻:Wartime forges lasting Sino-Russian friendship

During the "Great Patriotic War", known in the West as the Eastern Front of World War II, the Soviets fought tenacious battles in Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad and launched 10 major counter-offensives.

The bloody maneuvers successfully drove off the German troops, liberated a dozen European nations and smashed the final stronghold of Nazi Germany's rule in Berlin. At the same time, as many as 27 million Soviet people were killed in the conflict.

China, Asia's major battlefield during World War II, was then under the aggression of 70 percent of Japanese military forces, but played a pivotal role in securing the world’s victory against fascists. More than 35 million Chinese people lost their lives during the Anti-Japanese War.

Peace is always hard-won and the friendship forged during the war should be commemorated and passed down from one generation to the next.

In 2005, Hu attended the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War. He was set to attend Sunday’s ceremony in Moscow celebrating the 65th anniversary.

Chinese leaders have also met on several occasions with Russian veterans who used to fought for Chinese people's liberation, while some of the veterans were invited to visit China.

In Northeast China, local residents have made it a regular Victory Day practice to hold wreath-laying ceremonies to commemorate Soviet soldiers.

Sino-Russia relations last year made historical achievements through a series of actions, including the signing of a pact to inform each other of ballistic missile launchings and the initiation of a 1,030km oil pipeline program running from Russia's Skovorodino to China's northeastern city of Daqing.

More than six decades have passed since the war's smoke and flame faded away, yet the world still faces many challenges.

As permanent member states of the U.N. Security Council, China and Russia have played an active role in advocating world multi-polarization and the democratization of international politics.