Delegations from the Smolensk and Pskov regions laid flowers at the memorial cemetery on Uspenskaya Gorka in Vitebsk

Delegations from the Smolensk and Pskov regions arrived in Vitebsk to celebrate the Day of Unity of the Peoples of Belarus and Russia. Official guests laid flowers at the memorial cemetery on Uspenskaya Hill. 16 officers are buried here, three of whom are Heroes of the Soviet Union: Ivan Sivakov, Ivan Yanushkovsky, and the legendary Minay Shmeryov – one of the organizers of the partisan movement, commander of a partisan detachment and the 1st Belarusian Partisan Brigade. Two are our countrymen, and Ivan Sivakov is a native of the Samara province. Since June 1944, as part of the 1st Baltic Front, he participated in the Vitebsk-Orsha, Polotsk, and Šiauliai operations. Ivan Sivakov's division liberated Shumilino and Beshenkovichi. For his feats on the Vitebsk land, the Russian was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Our fraternal peoples share one history, one tragedy, one Victory, and one memory.

“I don’t know a single military burial site where there are only Russians or Belarusians, Kazakhs, Armenians. All the peoples of a large multinational country stood up against fascism. There is a Field of Memory in every district of the Smolensk region. Over 30 years of work by the Memory Watches and the "Dolg" search movement, more than 50 thousand soldier remains have been exhumed. Most are nameless, but about 10% of names have been identified, and relatives can now visit the grave of their grandfather or great-grandfather. I am sure that the situation is the same in fraternal Belarus – reverence for the memory of our ancestors, who, despite everything, sometimes at the cost of their lives, defended today's peace. The symbol of the victorious soldier was created in Berlin's Treptower Park by your countryman Evgeny Vuchetich,” noted Igor Lyakhov, Chairman of the Smolensk Regional Duma.

Armen Mnatsakanyan, Deputy Chairman of the Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies, shared his opinion, emphasizing that the unity of the Belarusian and Russian peoples is strengthening every year.

– Why are we so strong? Because we are a united people who respect our origins, our history, and never erase what happened in the past. We remember the heroes who gave their lives for our bright future. Every year we gather at the Kurgan Druzhby, in the places where Belarusian, Russian, and Latvian partisans fought. We show, not in words but in deeds, how harmoniously two brotherly nations live. I am sure that our ancestors, who achieved peace and freedom during the Great Patriotic War, are not ashamed of us, – said Armen Mnatsakanyan.

"Vitebskiye Vesti"