Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday met in the Kremlin with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who arrived in Moscow to attend celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. of 1941-1945.

According to the Kremlin, Putin expressed gratitude to Uzbek leader for coming to attend the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Victory and the military parade.

“It is gratifying that a unit of the Uzbek armed forces – 75 people as far as I know – will march through Red Square tomorrow, Russian president said.

Putin said that he know that on May 9, Mirziyoyev opened Victory Park in Tashkent.  “And in this regard, of course, I definitely have to mention that during the war, 2 million Uzbek people fought at the front. As many as 500,000 people died, and 130,000 went missing. This is a big loss.  But Uzbekistan took in 2 million civilians evacuating from other Soviet republics,” Putin said, noting that many industrial facilities were relocated to Uzbekistan and immediately restarted operations to produce the necessary supplies for the front.

“All this is our common history, our common achievements and our common Victory,” he said.

“At present, we are developing as independent states, but we enjoy absolutely unique strategic allied relations. We have joint economic projects, our special services cooperate, and we fight terrorism together.  Our armed forces are also collaborating,” Russian leader added.

Recall, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon yesterday also left for Moscow to attend the Victory Day military parade that is taking place in Moscow’ Red Square today.