Russia to invite international leaders to attend Victory Day parade on June 24

Russia is coordinating with countries including France to invite the leaders to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on June 24. While the Russian President recently announced that the annual May 9 massive military parade will be held in June, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly said that it is quite a short period for compiling the schedules of international leaders. Peskov added that the invitations would be ‘coordinated on a case-by-case basis and it will also be coordinated with each country individually. 

The new date of June 24 marks the 75th year after the first victory parade in Red Square following Germany’s surrender to Soviet commanders on May 9. While Peskov reportedly informed that the president of Kyrgyzstan has confirmed his attendance, a foreign ministry official also said that participating countries including France were being issued 'repeat invitations’. According to an international media report, China’s leader Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron of France were among the most high-profile confirmed attendees with invitations sent to other world leaders including British PM Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump. 

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The parade traditionally takes place every year on May 9 and it is also Russia’s most important holiday. Thousands of people gather in Moscow, including elderly veterans proudly wearing their medals. This year, the parade was supposed to highlight Russia’s exception role in history and on the world stage, however, due to the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, the country had to postpone the military parade. 

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COVID-19 outbreak 

Earlier this week, while announcing the date for the military parade, Putin reportedly said that accord to specialists, Russia has passed the peak of the outbreak. He ordered his ministry to start preparing for the event and said, “We will do this..on the day of the legendary, historical victory parade in 1945”. 

Meanwhile, Russia has recorded 379,051 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,142 deaths. Russia has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases across the globe, only behind the United States and Brazil. The exponential surge in COVID-19 cases forced the Russian President to postpone the parade, however, he had promised that the nation will celebrate it on a “grand scale”.

(Image: @RussianEmbassy/Twitter)

READ: Russia To Hold World War II Victory Parade On June 24

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