President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will not be attending the May 9th Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, a government source said.
Instead, on the eve of the Day of Remembrance and Honor, May 8th, Shavkat Mirziyoyev will follow tradition by visiting Victory Park in Tashkent to lay flowers at the "Ode to Fortitude" monument. According to the presidential press service, he is also scheduled to meet with World War II veterans and survivors of the home front.
The Kremlin’s official list of foreign dignitaries arriving in Moscow does not include any presidents from Central Asian nations. Expected attendees include the leaders of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Belarus, and Laos, as well as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and representatives from Serbia. Slovakia’s Prime Minister is also expected, though he reportedly does not plan to attend the parade itself.
This marks the first time since 2018 that a May 9th parade will take place in Moscow without the presence of Central Asian leaders. Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian President, told RIA Novosti that, similar to last year, foreign guests were not specifically invited to the celebration.
For the first time in many years, the Red Square parade will feature no military hardware. The Russian Ministry of Defense attributed this to the "operational situation," while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cited a "terrorist threat."
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