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Six Leaders Of Former Soviet Countries To Attend Victory Day Celebrations In Moscow

By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, RFE/RL's Tajik Service May 08, 2023

Six leaders of former Soviet states will attend a parade on Red Square on May 9 to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe in 1945 even as Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes ahead with the continent's largest land war since that time period.

The authoritarian leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus will be joined by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at the event.

The six countries were part of the Soviet Union at the time of World War II but declared their independence as the Russian-dominated U.S.S.R. collapsed in 1991.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will visit a memorial in Rzhev, a city west of Moscow in Russia's Tver region that was the site of heavy fighting during the war and where many fighters from Central Asia are buried.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on May 8 unveiled a memorial in Rzhev, saying it would "serve as a symbol of our eternal memory to all the heroes who fought for our future."

The Kyrgyz president arrived in Russia on May 7 for bilateral talks with Putin and other officials. The other leaders are also expected to hold talks with the authoritarian Russian leader.

Under Putin, Russia has gone to great lengths to commemorate World War II -- which killed more than 20 million Soviet citizens -- including reviving the pompous military parade held on Red Square during Soviet times.

During his more than 20 years in power, Putin has increasingly tried to unite Russian citizens around what they call the Great Patriotic War, transforming the memory of the four-year struggle against Nazi Germany into an integral part of national identity.

Separately, Putin has called the dissolution of the Soviet Union last century's "greatest geopolitical catastrophe," and his increasing tendency toward authoritarian rule and repression, including the invasion of Ukraine, have evoked comparisons with the former Russian and Soviet empires.

His increasingly repressive rule and foreign aggression have alienated many foreign leaders, resulting in a dwindling number of foreign dignitaries willing to attend his nostalgic parade.

In 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, longtime Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was the only head of state to attend the Victory Day parade.

Last year, a little over two months after Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, no foreign leaders came to the World War II celebrations in Moscow.

Belarusian strongman Alyaksander Lukashenka will attend this year. Lukashenka, who has been in power for nearly 30 years, traditionally leads the May 9 Victory Day celebration in Belarus, which was ravaged during World War II.

Putin is expected to hold talks with the foreign leaders around the May 9 celebration.

Japarov's office said the Kyrgyz leader would hold a bilateral meeting with Putin on May 8 to discuss "current issues on the bilateral and multilateral agenda, as well as the future of further development of mutually beneficial cooperation."

Japarov met with State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin ahead of the memorial unveiling in Rzhev.

Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution took place in 2005 amid street protests demanding political reforms that made it a beacon of fledgling democracy in a region more routinely stocked with post-communist authoritarians.

Putin dismissed pro-democracy events there and in other post-Soviet republics including Georgia and Ukraine as "color revolutions" fomented by Western meddling.

Kyrgyzstan is part of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance in Eurasia that also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan.

But Japarov was a surprise no-show at a gathering last year of the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in St. Petersburg on Putin's 70th birthday.

Kyrgyzstan then abruptly canceled CSTO training drills in a move that hawkish Russian lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin suggested was a reflection of Bishkek indulging in a "game" and wishing "not to fall under any spread of Western sanctions."

Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a trading bloc dominated by Russia that also includes Belarus, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyz-president- russia-visit-japarov-putin-victory-day/32400550.html

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Six Leaders Of Former Soviet Countries To Attend Victory Day Celebrations In Moscow