Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov will be the only foreign leader to attend events dedicated to the Victory Day that will take place in Moscow on May 9 this year, Vedomosti reported on April 23, citing a diplomatic source and a source close to Russian president’s administration.  

According to Vedomosti, Russian Vice-Premier in charge for international relations, Aleksey Overchuk invited Kyrgyz leader to pay an official visit to Moscow on May 8-9 during his visit to Bishkek on March 31.  

“Of particular importance to this visit is the fact that it is timed to the celebration of our common holiday – Victory Day,” Overchuk was cited as saying.  

“Of course, we always remember what contribution Kyrgyzstan made to this victory and the defense of Moscow,” Overchuk stated, announcing Japarov’s visit to Moscow.   

Normally Russia's annual Victory Day parade is a lavish commemoration of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II attended by an assortment of world leaders.

But it is to be noted that it is not the first case that only one foreign leader attends the Vicotry Day Parade in Moscow. Thus, in 2021, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was the only one foreign leader to attend the Victory Day Parade in Moscow.    

Meanwhile, Russian state-run news agency TASS, citing Olga Zanko, chairwoman of the central headquarters of the Volunteers of the Victory All-Russian public movement and lawmaker, reported on April 18 that Russian regions will hold Victory Day celebrations on May 9 both in the offline and online formats, including the Immortal Regiment march.  

"We are expanding the formats of the Immortal Regiment this year and both online and offline participation is possible so that as many people as possible can choose the format that they like," Zanko said, answering the question about the format of the Immortal Regiment march this year in Moscow and across Russia.

In particular, people can take part in the virtual Immortal Regiment march that will be broadcast on central television channels on media facades.  Those who did not take part in the online marches in the previous years should send the photos of their relatives who had fought during the Soviet Union’s 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany or worked on the home front to the Immortal Regiment website by April 30, she specified.

The Immortal Regiment march is an annual public event held in Russia on Victory Day on May 9 since 2012.  The Immortal Regiment movement was first launched in the city of Tyumen in West Siberia in 2007 and was initially called Victors’ Parade.  It acquired its current name in 2012 in Tomsk, and in 2013 it involved 120 cities.  The movement officially became a nationwide event in 2015.

By now, the Immortal Regiment march has spread beyond Russia and some CIS member nations.