A delegation from the Vitebsk region will take part in the traditional meeting of veterans at the Mound of Friendship

A delegation from the Vitebsk region will take part on July 7 in the traditional, 54th meeting of veterans, partisans, and underground fighters from Belarus, Russia, and Latvia at the Mound of Friendship. The Vitebsk delegation will include over 100 people – these are veterans of the Great Patriotic War, active participants of the partisan movement and underground fighters, representatives of the regional executive committee, the deputy corps, and the public. This year, Russia is the host country. The main celebrations will take place in the Sebezhsky district of the Pskov region. In accordance with the established ritual, the event will begin with a procession of columns of veterans from the territories of the three countries along paths to the Mound of Friendship.

A delegation from the Vitebsk region will take part on July 7 in the traditional, 54th meeting of veterans, partisans, and underground fighters from Belarus, Russia, and Latvia at the Mound of Friendship.

The Vitebsk delegation will include over 100 people – these are veterans of the Great Patriotic War, active participants of the partisan movement and underground fighters, representatives of the regional executive committee, the deputy corps, and the public.

This year, Russia is the host country. The main celebrations will take place in the Sebezhsky district of the Pskov region. In accordance with the established ritual, the event will begin with a procession of columns of veterans from the territories of the three countries along paths to the Mound of Friendship. At the solemn rally, the meeting participants will remember their combat comrades and honor their memory with a minute of silence. The official part of the celebrations will continue with a ceremony of laying wreaths and flowers at the monuments to the Komsomol heroes of the village of Proshki, located on the Belarusian side, and Hero of the Soviet Union Maria Pyntho in Russia. Latvian veterans will lay flowers on behalf of the meeting participants at the monument to Hero of the Soviet Union Imants Sudmalis, erected on Latvian soil. Creative groups from the Pskov and Vitebsk regions will perform for the veterans. The memorable meeting will conclude with an evening of reminiscences around an improvised partisan campfire.

The Mound of Friendship was erected in 1959 on the border of three republics - BSSR, RSFSR, and Latvian SSR - in honor of the combat camaraderie of partisans from Belarus, Latvia, and Russia. The earth for it was taken from the graves of partisans and Red Army soldiers, from the places where Alexander Matrosov, Klava Nazarova, Lenya Golikov, Masha Poryvaeva, and other heroes perished. Three alleys lead to the mound: from Belarus - a birch alley, from Russia - a maple alley, from Latvia - a linden alley. An oak tree grows at the top of the Mound, symbolizing the unbreakable friendship of the three peoples. Three granite slabs bear the inscription in three languages: "The Mound of Friendship was erected at the junction of the borders of three fraternal republics in honor of the combat friendship, cemented by blood during the Great Patriotic War, of Russian, Belarusian, and Latvian partisans. Opened on July 3, 1959." The Sinyaya River flows through the complex, which is now the border between Russia and Latvia.

Alena Tikhonova - BELTA