Victory Day in Osh…

I commemorated Victory Day with Lenin this morning in Osh, Kyrygzstan–where the holiday was marked with city-wide celebrations, lavish parades, and family visits. After the parade, I took some time to peruse the Soviet exhibitions at the local museum. In honor of Victory Day, Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev paid a visit to Russia to participate in the opening of a monument in Volokolamsk dedicated to Duishenkul Shopokov, a “Hero of the Soviet Union” from Kyrgyzstan–who died in 1941 defending the approach to Moscow. As luck would have it, I just flew from Osh to the Bishkek airport at the same time the President was arriving home from Russia…