Military-ruled Myanmar marks 75 years independent of Britain

Myanmar troops and weaponry have paraded through the capital Naypyidaw to mark 75 years of independence from Britain, just days after the country’s military rulers sent the democratically-elected leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to prison for a combined 33 years, Qazet.az reports.

Tanks, missile launchers and armoured cars rolled through the dawn air to a parade ground in the capital on Wednesday to kick off a military procession marking the 75th anniversary of independence, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.

Civil servants and high school students followed the troops, accompanied by a military band. A 21-gun salute greeted the country’s military ruler, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, as he arrived at the parade ground.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent “sincere greetings” and anticipated the “further development” of relations, according to the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.

Russia is a crucial ally and arms supplier of Myanmar’s isolated military regime, which has said Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was “justified”.

Myanmar declared independence from British colonial rule on January 4, 1948, after a long fight championed by General Aung San, the late father of Aung San Suu Kyi.