Earlier the Immortal
Regiment walked along the streets of Melbourne, attracting over 100 people.
SYDNEY, May 5.
/TASS/. The Immortal Regiment march commemorating World War II heroes has
started in Australian cities. The participants in the procession walked along
the central streets of Sydney on Sunday.
"The Immortal
Regiment event traditionally attracts a great number of fellow countrymen in
Australia, though there are not so many Russians here, but nevertheless our
column is becoming increasingly crowded each year. Over 100 people have
gathered in the city center carrying portraits of their grandfathers and great
grandfathers today despite a heavy rainfall, to commemorate the heroes who died
during World War II," the coordinator of the march Kseniya Trifonova told
TASS.
The Immortal Regiment
column walked along Sydney’s central streets from Martin Place to the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) memorial where the participants
laid flowers to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and observed a moment of
silence. The people in the column carried not only the portraits of World War
II veterans, but also the Russian and Australian flags.
According to the
coordinator of the procession in Sydney, the Immortal Regiment event has
already become a tradition for Australia. "Marches have been held in
Sydney since 2013, though initially the column walked well before Victory Day,
on April 25, on Anzac Day. However, this is the third year that it takes place
as a completely independent event, which we are attempting to hold on the
weekend closest to Victory Day for as many fellow countrymen to be able to
participate in it as possible, since people like it," Trifonova said.
The Immortal Regiment
event is extremely important not only for Russia-and CIS-born marchers as each
year it attracts a growing number of Australians interested in the history of
World War II and the role of the Soviet people in achieving the victory in it,
the participants of the procession said.
Earlier the Immortal
Regiment walked along the streets of Melbourne, attracting over 100 people. On
Monday, May 6, the column will walk along the streets of Brisbane. On May 12,
New Zealand’s Auckland will join the Immortal Regiment march.
The Immortal Regiment
procession is a public event where people carry photos of their relatives who
participated in the Great Patriotic War. The first march was held in the
Siberian city of Tyumen in 2007, under the name of the Parade of the
Victorious. In 2013, the procession was held in 120 cities. In the following
year, citizens of 500 cities in seven countries walked along the streets
carrying the portraits of veterans. Sydney joined the event in 2013. The
Immortal Regiment marches have taken place in Brisbane since 2015, and in
Melbourne - since 2017.
Source: ITAR-TASS
05-05-2019
