American World War II veterans and nearly 30 foreign leaders will attend commemorations in Moscow this week to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, the Kremlin has claimed.
Kiev has warned that participation would undermine the countries' claims of neutrality towards Russia's war in Ukraine and launched a second consecutive night of drone attacks on Moscow, which forced the Russian capital's four airports to close on Tuesday.
But the Kremlin announced hours later that 29 foreign leaders, including China's Xi Jinping and Slovakia's Robert Fico, were expected to attend, while military units from 13 countries will take part in the annual Victory Day parade on Friday.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said some American World War II veterans are expected to attend the events, which will mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory, but it is not clear whether any American officials intend to do so. Moscow has sent an invitation to the US ambassador.
Despite Vladimir Putin claiming he wanted a 72-hour ceasefire this week to mark the occasion, Russia also launched a wave of drone strikes that killed two people in Donetsk and Odessa, and injured several others in Kharkiv, where the city's largest market went up in flames.