MOSCOW, May 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated his counterparts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the CIS on Victory Day, the Kremlin announced on Saturday.

A report on the official Kremlin web site quoted from messages to the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine, as well as the leaders of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but did not include any message to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow following Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and its membership of the Commonwealth of Independent States officially ends in August.

In his messages to the Abkhazian and South Ossetian presidents, Medvedev compared the August 2008 conflict with Georgia over South Ossetia to World War II.

"Our peoples fought shoulder to shoulder against the fascist German aggressors for freedom and independence," he told South Ossetian President Edward Kokoity. "The traditions of comradeship and mutual support stood the test of time and appeared again during the tragic days of August 2008, when it was necessary to resist together the aggression against South Ossetia."

In his message to Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh, the Russian head of state praised the ideals that "defended our peoples in the battles of World War II," values which he said had been upheld in last year's conflict with Georgia.

"They protected the choice made by the people of Abkhazia in favor of free and democratic development," Medvedev said, adding that relations between Russia and Abkhazia would "become stronger and develop for the good of our peoples."

Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states after the five-day war with Georgia, which attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia had held Russian citizenship for several years.