On July 3, 2020, at an online press-conference organized by news agency „Interfax“, de facto president of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania stated that on June 24, while his visit in Moscow, he invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Abkhazia to attend the Monument opening to the Pilots killed in WWII.

On June 24, In Moscow, Aslan Bzhania took part in the event on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory in WWII.

The monument was opened in Sokhumi on June 15, and its solemn opening is scheduled for July 24. For the last time, Putin paid a short (total of 2 hours) visit to Abkhazia on August 8, 2017, on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the Russo-Georgian war.