My VE Day in Kyrgyzstan
In travelling to Bishkek, I was heading for the hills. I had not expected to be marking the 80th anniversary of victory in Europe there. But thanks to our leader, Alexandra Tolstoy, who has high standing with the authorities in Kyrgyzstan, we found ourselves in honoured places beside the presidential podium for the parade. Being a former Soviet republic, Kyrgyzstan speaks not of the second world war but of the Great Patriotic one. The Russian link remains so strong that the president had advanced the date of the parade so he could join President Putin for his great march past in Moscow on 9 May. Standing near us were bemedalled Kyrgyz veterans, wearing their tall, four-cornered Ak-kalpak hats. Among the well-drilled troops was a smart contingent bearing the red, white and blue flag of Russia, a small provocation which caused the British ambassador to stay away. The Kyrgyz flag is red, with a yellow sun whose 40 beams represent the 40 tribes united by Manas, hero of the national epic. The motif on the circle of the sun represents the roof of a yurt. The parade's atmosphere was solemn but friendly, with low security. It was an interesting moment to be reminded that the larger part of the answer to the famous question 'Who won the war, then?' is 'The Soviet Union'. That pride remains, even in the satellites Communism persecuted. Kyrgyzstan, with China immediately to its east, enjoys Russian protection, and that word 'enjoys' may not be wholly inappropriate. In Bishkek, the colossal statue of Lenin has lost pride of place, but is still prominent and well-tended.
Alexandra was leading us to camp and ride in the remote and wildly beautiful Tienshan mountains. Rather than trying to make arrangements for satellite phones, I decided to surrender any direct link to the outside world for a week.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Israel's bravery shames our pusillanimous Prime Minister
It would, to say the least, be helpful if we had a Prime Minister who understood even his own supposed principles. Since taking office last year, Sir Keir Starmer has been admirably strong and consistent in supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, at least in his statements, if not in actual firepower. But his response to the Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear and military sites is not just naïve, it is pusillanimous and shows how empty a vessel he really is: 'The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently. Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate. Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.' Starmer grasps the need to stand up to Putin's aggression, but crumbles into spineless diplo-speak when confronted by a theocratic tyranny. For a leader with a clear understanding of the Iranian threat – of reality, in other words – there should be relief, not consternation. Just yesterday, for example, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, refusing to answer questions on uranium particles found in undeclared sites in the country and the stockpiling of uranium enriched to nearly weapons grade. Iran then revealed it is operating a previously secret new uranium enrichment centre. The threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon has not been theoretical but very real and increasingly imminent. According to Sir Keir, 'Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.' This is the precise opposite of what it is the time for. Diplomacy led us to the disastrous Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which relaxed sanctions on the regime, handed it huge amounts of money from oil exports, and thus funded not just the Iranian proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis but the nuclear weapons programme. In this sense Israel has been acting not only on its own behalf but on behalf of all those Middle Eastern states which have been destabilised by Iran – and on behalf of the West itself. This is a familiar story; twice before Israel has saved us all from nuclear enemies, in 1981 when it destroyed Saddam's reactor in Iraq and in 2007 when it destroyed Assad's facilities in Syria. One irony of this is that the so-called Free Palestine brigade, who will doubtless be back on the streets soon, should be cheering Israel today – if they genuinely cared about securing a Palestinian state. There are reports that the UK is on the verge of recognising such an entity next week at the special UN conference called by France. But there will never be a secure and stable Palestinian state while Iran continues to spread its malign influence through its proxies – and should it acquire a nuclear weapon the prospect of a Palestinian state would be the first casualty. Contrary to Sir Keir's spineless timidity, this is the time for action by a clear eyed state which understands the threat posed by its enemy and is willing to act to defend itself by neutering that threat. Far from stopping now as Sir Keir urges, it is essential that Israel finishes the job it began last night. Israel has not started a war – it has prevented one.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv claims Moscow has lost more than one million soldiers
Russia has lost more than one million troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian military has claimed. The claim by the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces is in line with Western intelligence estimates and underlines the huge price paid by Moscow for its three-year-old invasion. In a statement posted on X on Thursday, the UK Ministry of Defence also said that Russia has suffered more than one million casualties, including roughly 250,000 killed since it launched the full-scale invasion on February 24 2022. The MoD said the figures highlighted 'the devastating human cost Putin is inflicting on his own people'. Russia last reported its military casualties early in the war when it said that around 6,000 soldiers had been killed. The figures come as both sides continued to swap severely wounded prisoners of war on Thursday as part of an agreement struck during talks in Istanbul.
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Russia's Putin calls for quick development of drone forces
June 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that drones had played a major role in the conflict in Ukraine and called for the rapid development and deployment of separate drone forces within the military. "We are currently creating unmanned systems troops as a separate branch of the military and we need to ensure their rapid and high-quality deployment and development," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying at a meeting on arms development. Drones have played a leading role for both sides in the more than three-year-old conflict pitting Moscow against Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has since the outbreak of the war in February 2022 stressed the importance of developing a domestic drone development and production industry. Putin told the second day of the gathering that Russia was well aware how Ukraine was dealing with the issue. "But on the whole, I do not believe we are lagging behind on anything," he was quoted as saying. "More to the point, it seems to me we are bringing together good experience with a view to creating just such forces." Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov proposed the creation of a drone force late last year, setting a target date of the third quarter of 2025. Putin also stressed developing air defences, which he said had destroyed more than 80,000 targets during the conflict that Russia still calls a special military operation. "In this respect, a new state armaments programme must ensure the construction of a versatile air defence system capable of operating in any circumstances and efficiently striking air attack weapons, regardless of their type," he said. On the opening day of the meeting, Putin called for due attention to be paid to the nuclear triad of land-based, sea-based and aircraft-launched weapons.
