France plans to invite Russia to celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June, Europe 1 radio reported.
The report noted that although the Soviet Union did not directly participate in the 6 June landing, it made it possible by “making the heaviest sacrifice in the course of World War II.”
“Russia will be represented at the Normandy ceremony in June if Moscow accepts the invitation of the Elysee Palace,” the radio station said.
Last December, the media reported that French leader Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility of inviting Russian president Vladimir Putin to the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy in 2024.
The landing of soldiers in Normandy was the initial phase of Operation Overlord, a strategic campaign to counter the German occupation forces and liberate north-western France by the Allies during World War II.
On the night of 5 June 1944, Allied forces launched a sea, air and land offensive on Normandy, a region in northwestern France. D-Day was the first phase of Operation Overlord; the Allied plan to liberate Europe.
First, Allied forces shelled the coast of France. Then, shortly after midnight, over 20,000 soldiers landed in landing zones to gain a foothold in northern France. Later, at around 6.30 a.m., infantry and armoured troops began landing on the Normandy coast.
Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the Channel that day, and nearly 900,000 had landed by the end of June.
