Parades, street parties and mass remembrance ceremonies have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the continent is still marking the 75th anniversary of end of World War II in Europe. 

On 8 May, 1945, the Allied forces formally accepted Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender after a destructive conflict that started in 1939 and claimed 50 million lives. 

While much of the continent remains under strict lockdown, closed ceremonies are being held in France and Germany and in the UK, a pre-recorded message from the Queen will be played to the nation on what the country calls VE Day (Victory in Europe Day). 

Several low-key events are still happening across the continent including French President Emmanuel Macron laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Paris. A military band played the national anthem 'La Marseillaise' as those few attending maintained a distance from each other.

Meanwhile, Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, and president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, attended a ceremony at the country's main memorial.

Read more: How did VE Day shape modern Europe?

Steinmeier said: "Today, we German are allowed to say: the day of liberation is a day of gratitude!"

He drew a parallel between the war and the coronavirus: "If we don't hold Europe together, including during and after this pandemic, then we are not living up to 8 May." And added: "We want more, not less cooperation in the world – also in the fight against the pandemic."

Russia celebrates the end of the war the following day, on 9 May, and has also scaled back celebrations. An elaborate military parade planned for its "Victory Day," has been cancelled. Instead, military planes will perform a flypast over Moscow's Red Square.

President Vladimir Putin will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial and address the nation on television, in a speech that will not only touch on the war but also chart out the next steps to tackle the pandemic.

In the UK, street parades featuring war veterans have been cancelled and the public has been urged to stay indoors.

Prince Charles led a two-minute silence outside his family's Balmoral estate as military jets flew over the UK's four capitals.

In a message to the nation, Prime Minister Boris Johnson drew parallels between the COVID-19 pandemic and the war effort, saying that tackling the virus "demands the same spirit of national endeavour" as shown during the war.

He added: "We can't hold the parades and street celebrations we enjoyed in the past, but all of us who were born since 1945 are acutely conscious that we owe everything we most value to the generation who won the Second World War."

VE Day marks the end of conflict in Europe, but the war raged on until August 1945, when Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allies. VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) is celebrated on 15 August 1945.

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