Lepel celebrates the 65th anniversary of Victory with the pennant "For Courage and Resilience during the Great Patriotic War"

May 9, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The pennant "For Courage and Resilience during the Great Patriotic War" and an honorary diploma were awarded today to the city of Lepel (Vitebsk region), Igor Urban, head of the ideological work department of the Lepel district executive committee, told a BELTA correspondent. The solemn ceremony was attended by veterans, the public, and leaders of the district and region. "The awarding of the pennant is another recognition of the merits of our veterans who forged Victory, and a reminder to the younger generation of the feat of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers," noted Igor Urban. During the war, the Lepel region became a partisan territory. More than 30 underground groups operated in the city and district. Many combat operations are inscribed in the combat chronicle of the Lepel partisans, among which a special place is occupied by the defeat of large fascist garrisons in the rear of the German 3rd Panzer Army in 1943. The partisans fought fierce battles for Lepel, Chashniki, the village of Bocheikovo, and expanded the partisan zone. They managed to completely defeat 12 fortified enemy garrisons. Civilians also did not stand aside from this operation. They dug anti-tank ditches and built barricades on the roads. The experience gained by the partisans during the Lepel operation, the strategy and tactics of struggle were used in the difficult days of the defense of the Polotsk-Lepel partisan zone in the spring of 1944. More than 5,000 partisans, underground fighters, and civilians laid down their lives for the freedom and independence of their Motherland. By Decree of the President of Belarus dated April 19, 2010, No. 189, three settlements in the Vitebsk region (the city of Lepel and the towns of Rossony and Surazh) were awarded the pennant "For Courage and Resilience during the Great Patriotic War" and an honorary diploma. In the year of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, the pennant and diploma were awarded to Vitebsk, Polotsk, Orsha, Begoml, and Ushachi. -0-