Without foreign leaders Russia will celebrate Victory Day against the Nazis this year on May 9, at a time when the war in Ukraine is well under way.
“We did not invite any foreign leaders to Victory Day. This is our holiday, this is a holy holiday for all Russia, for all Russians. “But we did not invite foreign leaders,” said Dmitry Peshkov, a spokesman for the Russian presidency.
Asked for clarification, the Russian official replied that the visit of the President of Belarus is not expected on May 9 either. Alexander Lukashenko, Putin’s close ally. “As far as I know, no, he has no plans to come,” Peshkov said.
It is indicative that in 2015, about 30 heads of state were present at the 2015 celebrations, although Western leaders boycotted the celebrations over the Russian intervention in Crimea.
In Russia in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the USSR, May 9 was not celebrated with splendor or large parades. That changed after Vladimir Putin came to power.
Rehearsals for the grand military parade on May 9, a day marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over the Nazis in World War II. have already begun.
A landmark day in which, according to various estimates, Vladimir Putin seeks to have achieved victory or at least, “some kind of victory”, against Ukraine.
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