On June 22, 1941,
German troops invaded the Soviet Union’s territory.
TASS. June 22, the
day when the Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union and the Great Patriotic War
of 1941-1945 began, is marked as the Day of Memory and Sorrow in Russia.
Great Patriotic War
On June 22, 1941,
German troops invaded the Soviet Union’s territory. German planes dropped bombs
on Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine), Minsk (now the capital of Belarus), Riga
(now the capital of Latvia), Sevastopol (Crimea) and other cities and towns.
The war lasted 1,418 days. A total of 27 million Soviet people were killed,
including 18 million civilians and 8.7 million servicemen. Four million people
were tortured and killed at Nazi death camps. Some 4.5 million Red Army
soldiers and officers were captured, and 2.5 million of them died in captivity.
On June13, 1992, the
presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation declared that June
22 should be marked as The Memory Day for Defenders of the Fatherland. On June
8, 1996, then President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree to rename it the Day of
Memory and Sorrow.
Commemorative events
On June 22, all flags
on the Russian territory are flown at half staff. All cultural centers, TV and
radio stations are recommended to exclude entertainment events and shows from
their schedule.
Senior Russian
officials traditionally lay wreaths to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in
Moscow. All across Russia, various events to honor the memory of WWII victims
are held, and minutes of silence are observed.
Since 1994, Moscow
holds the annual Memory Watch campaign to mark the sad date. Youth movements,
war veterans and Moscow government officials traditionally take part. Overnight
to June 22, participants gather near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the Red
Square to observe a minute of silence and lay wreaths to the monument,
dedicated to all unidentified soldiers who lost their lives in the war.
Another notable
campaign, the Candle of Memory, is held annually since 2009. On June 21, a
memorial candle is lit at Moscow’s Yelokhovo Cathedral and is taken to the Hall
of Memory and Grief of the Great Patriotic War museum on the Bow Hill. This
candle is used to light many others, which are brought to WWII burial sites and
monuments all over the country. In 2015, other former Soviet States, including
Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus joined the campaign.
In 2009, the Memory
Alley opened at Moscow’s Sparrow Hills. Overnight to June 22, people lit up
candles and attach bells to tree branches there to honor the memory of the
deceased.
Annually since 2017,
a demilitarized convoy of armored vehicles departs from Moscow to Minsk and
then returns back to Moscow. The event coincides with the beginning of the
Great Patriotic War.
Besides, remains of
WWII victims, discovered by search parties during the past year, are reburied
with military honors on this day. Last year, such ceremonies took place in
Central Russia’s city of Voronezh, in the northwestern regions of Novgorod,
Vologda and Komi and south Russia’s Stavropol region.
June 22 is also
marked in Belarus, as the day of Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Great
Patriotic War, and in Ukraine, as the Day of Sorrow and Remembrance of Victims
of War.
Source: ITAR-TASS
22-06-2019
