Russian consuls paid a formal visit to the Aviation Martyrs Cemetery in eastern Chinese city of Nanjing on Tuesday to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the victory in Europe during World War II.

Consul Sergey Pastukhov and deputy consul Sergey Zhizhikin of the Russian Consulate General in Shanghai visited the cemetery and laid a wreath at the monument to aviators who died.

May 9 is the 61st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Commemorations have been held in many parts of the world.

The cemetery is home to the remains of 3,304 dead aviators, of whom 236 were Russian volunteers, said Wang Jian, vice-president of Nanjing Aviation Association.

"Our two nations faced the same historic dangers, yet we won finally," said Pastukhov.

He praised relations between Russia and China, and hoped the two great peoples would remember history and create a better future together.

The former Soviet Union sent thousands of aviation volunteers to help China fight the Japanese invaders as early as October 1937.

Source: Xinhua