MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulatory telegrams to the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia as well as to the people of Georgia and Moldova on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin press office announced.

This is the second year in a row that Ukraine is not mentioned in the announcement. In 2022 and before, Putin congratulated the Ukrainian people.

In his telegrams, the Russian leader underscored that Russia pays a tribute of deep gratitude and respect to all those who bravely fought at the frontline and worked selflessly at home, bringing the coveted Victory that cost so many lives.

"It is our moral duty today to carefully preserve and convey to future generations the memory of the events of those brutal years. Together, we must decisively counter any attempts to distort and falsify history, to twist the outcome of the Great Patriotic war, to justify the horrific atrocities, committed by the Nazis and their minions," the president said, according to the press office.

Putin stated his certainty that the traditions of fraternal friendship and mutual support, crystallized during the brutal wartime years, have been and remain an unshakeable basis for the establishment and development of constructive, good-neighborly relations between post-Soviet countries and people.

Putin relayed words of heartfelt gratitude to all World War II veterans and homefront workers, wishing them good health, prosperity, good spirits and longevity.