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An elderly man, his chest heavy with medals, cuts a lonely figure in front of hundreds of onlookers on the route of a parade. He is wiping a tear from his eye. Maybe the flowers he holds are a gift from a grateful nation or his tribute to fallen comrades. It's a scene which has touched many hearts on social media.

A popular Facebook meme claims that the man is the last surviving member of his World War Two battle group. The photo has gained more than one million likes on Facebook, most notably on HypeDojo and UNILAD - both of which are more associated with boisterous banter.
The comments show almost unanimous sympathy and appreciation, despite some confusion about the man's nationality. Perhaps because of the ambiguous caption, readers from a variety of countries have claimed the man as their own.

So where was the photo taken and who does it show? There are several clues that reveal that the answer to the first question is almost certainly Russia. The tricolour flag hangs in the background, and the medals are Russian. This does indeed point to Victory Day, an annual holiday commemorating the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in 1945, at the end of what is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War.

So where was the photo taken and who does it show? There are several clues that reveal that the answer to the first question is almost certainly Russia. The tricolour flag hangs in the background, and the medals are Russian. This does indeed point to Victory Day, an annual holiday commemorating the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in 1945, at the end of what is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War.

To try to track down the subject of the photo Trending contacted the St Petersburg Veterans association, but to no avail.

So at Trending's request, Petrosyan reposted the photo on his Facebook page to see if anyone could identify the man. The post gained traction, prompting a discussion about whether the man looked old enough to be a World War Two veteran. Nobody was able to confirm who he was - although one person did recognise him from another photo taken on the same day by another, unknown, photographer.

So could the man be a veteran of World War Two

Dr Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military expert at RUSI told BBC Trending that it's possible the man was as young as 75 in the photo. "The usual minimum age for conscription to the Red Army was 17", he said. So if the man had joined in spring 1945 that would make him 79 on Victory Day 2007. But it's possible the man could have been younger. "He could be as young as 13 if he was one of the Sons of the Regiment" Sutyagin added. These were orphan children adopted into the Red Army, who saw combat alongside their adult comrades.

So do the man's medals provide any more information

According to Sutyagin, the medal worn on his right is "The Order of the Patriotic War" handed out by the Soviet Union to those who played a part in the Soviet Army during World War Two. The other clearly visible medals are anniversary medals.

It is unlikely that the man would have been a senior ranked soldier - especially not surprising had he been a teenage combatant. Officers commonly wear military outfits to the Victory Day parades, but it is not unusual for those who were more junior in rank to wear informal attire.