St. Petersburg Hosted International Action “ ‘Casing’ of Courage and Grief”

The event was dedicated to the anniversary dates - the 35^th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the 45^th anniversary of the beginning of the events “land beyond the river”, the 75^th anniversary of the formation of the first Spetsnaz GRU units (Special Forces of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces), as well as the upcoming holiday - the 80^th anniversary of the Great Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The action is aimed at uniting the military past and strengthening the Russian-Belarusian friendship.

Deputy Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council – Plenipotentiary Representative of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Viktor Kogut  took part in the event.

A wreath and flowers were laid at the Motherland Monument in memory of the massive feat of arms of the defenders of Leningrad and residents of the besieged city, who showed immense fortitude and courage.

Veterans and participants also laid flowers at the stele in memory of 12 thousand Belarusian teenagers who came from Minsk to Leningrad from October 1940 to June 1941 to study at craft and factory training schools.

The main event of the veterans’ meeting was the ceremony of solemn transfer of the casing with the earth of the Island of Courage and Grief to the museum of the Piskaryovskoe Memorial Cemetery for eternal storage. The man-made island was erected in the very center of Minsk in memory of the Afghan War. Hundreds of surnames - all Belarusians who fell during that war - are embossed on the walls of the chapel, which is located on the island.

The international action “ ‘Casing’ of Courage and Grief” is a return visit of Belarusian combat veterans, which is aimed at further strengthening twinning ties and symbolizes loyalty to our common military traditions laid down by the front-line soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. It takes place at the Piskaryovskoe Memorial Cemetery – the world’s largest war grave, where the words of Olga Bergholz’s epitaph “No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten” are embossed on the stele at the Motherland Monument.