Myanmar's Military Leader Meets Top Russian Officials Amid Controversial Election Plans

Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military leader, visited Moscow for discussions with Russia's security officials. This travel occurs as Myanmar plans an election critics label a power grab by the military. Russia, aligning with China, has supported Myanmar's junta amid international condemnation of its human rights record.

Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of Myanmar's military, was received in Moscow on Tuesday by a high-ranking security official of President Vladimir Putin. Sergei Shoigu, Russia's Security Council secretary, embraced Hlaing as they prepared for meetings with Putin and the Defence Ministry, according to Izvestia's report.

Hlaing, 68, seldom travels abroad. Myanmar, with a population of 55 million, has been unsettled since the military overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and former leader of the National League for Democracy, in February 2021.

The military junta intends to hold elections this year, which critics have dismissed as a strategic move to maintain military dominance through puppet leaders. While China and Russia have backed Myanmar's military, both countries vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that condemned the alleged human rights violations in Myanmar.

Historical ties between the Soviet Union and Myanmar date back to the latter's independence from Britain in 1948.

(With inputs from agencies.)