School students from eight CIS countries honoured the memory of heroes fallen in the Great Patriotic War.
On the eve of the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow on 22 June, which commemorates the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the cultural and educational project Memory Train 2024 was launched at the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex.
The ceremony took place on the square of the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex, where its defenders in 1941 were the first to face the attacking Nazi German troops and bravely defended against the Nazi invaders.
The project participants, schoolchildren from member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, observed a minute of silence to honour the memory of the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and independence of their homeland and defended the world from Nazism. The laying of flowers at the Eternal Flame took place in a solemn and poignant atmosphere.
As noted by Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, there is no more fitting place to start the Memory Train than the Brest Fortress. This is because the memory of that war began the moment the first drop of soldiers’ blood was shed within its walls. Those who followed them and the succeeding generations have only one opportunity to express their gratitude – by keeping the memory of their heroic deeds alive. “Soviet soldiers went to battle, armed and unarmed, because they knew that the Motherland, a great country, stood behind them. And when the heroes of the first battles repelled enemy attacks, they thought of their families, parents, children and grandchildren. We, as their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, are the successors of that great battle and the custodians of the memory of the Great Victory. I am certain that the memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War has been expanded by at least 200 more people who participate in this cultural and educational project.”
As part of the ceremony, the project participants received a panel where they would place commemorative symbols of the cities along the Memory Train route.
The event was also attended by Chairperson of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus for International Affairs and National Security Sergei Sivets and Deputy State Secretary of the Union State Yelena Bogdan.
In memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War, a requiem rally was held on the night of 22 June. The rally was attended by school students who arrived on the Memory Train, as well as citizens of Russia and Belarus who came specifically to honour the memory of the heroes. A historical reconstruction of the first day of the war, titled “22 June: Brest Fortress,” was staged at the Kobrin fortification.
The participants of the Memory Train project will visit cities in Russia and Belarus that are closely connected to the history of the Great Patriotic War. They will visit memorial sites, complexes, and cultural and historical landmarks. On 3 July, the project will conclude in Minsk.