Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended the Victory Day events that took place in Moscow on May 9, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
Before departing for Moscow, Emomali Rahmon reportedly visited Dushanbe’s Victory Park on May 8 to participate in the wreath-laying ceremony in honor of the 78th anniversary of the Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЕ photo / Tajik president press service
Emomali Rahmon was welcomed by the Minister of Defense of the republic Sherali Mirzo.
President Emomali Rahmon laid a wreath in front of the "Eternal Fire" in memory of the officers and soldiers and all those who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War.
By laying a wreath and honoring the heroes of the Tajik people, the Tajik leader reportedly paid tribute to the martyrs of the path of freedom and liberation.
In Moscow, Emomali Rahmon attended the Victory Day military parade in Red Square and then together with leaders of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and honored the memory of the victims of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЕ photo / Tajik president press service
Radio Liberty reports that by the eve of the May 9 holiday, leaders Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan arrived in Moscow “for the greatly scaled-down, tightly controlled military parade.”
The presence of Central Asian leaders in Moscow alongside Putin, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has reportedly again highlighted Central Asia's role as a crutch for Russia, whose international isolation has deepened markedly in the past 15 months.
Recall, Emomali Rahmon in 2021 was the only foreign leader to attend the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, where Putin was hosting him for talks.
According to Radio Liberty, this went down badly with many Kyrgyz, who viewed it as a sign of Russia's tacit support for Tajikistan just over a week after clashes had left dozens dead on both sides, signposting a new escalatory precedent in the standoff.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which are Central Asia’s poorest countries, are two most dependent on Russia. In 2022, in spite of the war in Ukraine, the number of remittances sent home by hundreds of thousands of Tajik and Kyrgyz citizens toiling in Russia actually rose, helping to prop up job-scarce, inflation-heavy economies.
