Kyrgyz President Arrives In Russia For Putin Meeting, Possible Solo Seat At WWII Events

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has arrived in Moscow for bilateral meetings with President Vladimir Putin and to attend a victory parade in the Russian capital to mark the end of World War II, likely making him the only foreign head of state to be at the May 9 events.

Japarov's press service announced the official visit and arrival on the presidential website, saying the Kyrgyz leader was met at Vnukovo Airport by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

Attendance by foreign officials at commemorations of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War has waned since Moscow's illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

All five Central Asian republics were part of the Soviet Union at the time of World War II but declared independence along with nine other countries as the Russian-led, nominal union collapsed in 1991.

Putin has called the dissolution of the Soviet Union the "greatest geopolitical tragedy" of the last century, and his efforts during two decades of increasingly authoritarian leadership, including the invasion of Ukraine, have evoked comparisons with the former Russian and Soviet empires.

In 2021, 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 WWII celebrations in Moscow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VecIJo3Htdc

Update on the conflict in Ukraine for May 8, 2023…

- Russia adds FAB-250 bombs to its arsenal of precision-guided glide bombs. More FAB-250s can be carried per sourtie and can glide up to 80km, twice the distance as the current, larger glide bombs Russia is using;

- Ukraine shot down one of its Turkish-built Bayraktar TB-2 drones over Kiev after allegedly losing control of it;

- Ukraine’s Air Force spokesman denied claims that Ukrainian air defense forces downed a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile. Despite denying the incident, the Western media continues writing articles about the “downing” of the missile;

- PMC Wagner has nearly total control over the Donbass city of Bakhmut. Wagner head Prigozhin has aired differences with the Russian Ministry of Defense publicly in a manner inconsistent with military protocol and discipline;

- Russian commanders have said that after weathering the Ukrainian offensive, they will continue grinding down Ukrainian troops in the same incremental manner they have been throughout the special military operation;

- CNN admits Ukrainian HIMARS are being jammed by Russian electronic warfare, diminishing their effectiveness on the battlefield; - The EU’s plan to produce “1 million” 155mm artillery rounds per year is still under discussion, when implemented it may take several years to reach the desired output similar to US efforts to expand shell production;

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