Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov arrives in Russia ahead of Victory Day; meets Putin
Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, as well as the prime minister of Armenia, have agreed to attend traditional May 9 parade in Moscow.
- World News
- 3 min read
On the eve of Victory Day commemorating the Red Army's triumph against Hitler's Nazi troops during WWII [which Russians call the Great Patriotic War], Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov visited Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Moscow, the Kyrgyz leader unveiled a memorial dedicated to the fallen Kyrgyz soldiers who lost lives fighting in World War II. Speaking at a pre-Victory Day event in Moscow's western city of Tver, the site of heavy WWII troop fighting, Japarov said that the historic monument would "serve as a symbol of our eternal memory to all the heroes who fought for our future."
Russia's Immortal Regiment procession on Victory day cancelled
The latter also held bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials. The Kyrgyz leader is among the foreign heads of state who are slated to attend the May 9 Victory Day events in Moscow. The presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, as well as the prime minister of Armenia, have agreed to attend the traditional May 9 parade in Moscow, according to Moscow-based reports. All five Central Asian republics were part of the former Soviet Union during World War II. Russia celebrates Victory Day with full fervour since the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and holds a military parade on Moscow's Red Square. They gained independence as the USSR collapsed in 1991.
Reports have emerged that due to security concerns, Moscow has cancelled its “Immortal Regiment” civilian processions, one of the main Victory Day events. On May 3, Moscow-installed authorities in Sevastopol reported a massive fire in a fuel depot in the vicinity of a crucial bridge that links Russia’s mainland with the 2014 annexed Crimea. Moscow slammed Ukraine's military for drone attacks in Crimea’s largest city.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, proposed to move the 'Victory Day' celebration to May 8. “It is on May 8 that most nations of the world remember the greatness of the victory over the Nazis. The world admires all those who were protecting and protected life. Who threw down the Nazi flags on the liberated territory and who opened the gates of the concentration camps. Who restored freedom to the nations, who destroyed and condemned Nazi evil,” Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter. “Today, I submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine proposing that May 8 be the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War of 1939-1945. Eternal memory to all those who died in the Second World War! Glory to each and everyone who fought against Nazism and won! Glory to all our heroes of different times, to whom we equally owe our lives!” he further added.