About 20,000 participants gathered for the Victory Day festive procession in Vitebsk (updated)

About 20,000 participants gathered for the Victory Day festive procession in Vitebsk, as reported by the Department of Ideological Work, Culture, and Youth Affairs of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee.

The traditional festive procession began from Lenin Square at 9:00 AM. Representatives of government bodies, clergy, enterprises and organizations, educational institutions, public organizations, and numerous participants of the "Belarus Remembers!" campaign marched in the festive column along the central street of the regional center towards the monument to the liberator soldiers, accompanied by songs of wartime.

The main heroes of the holiday were veterans and war participants, whom all attendees greeted with flowers and ovations at Victory Square.

The Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, congratulated all participants of the celebration on the 73rd anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War.

The memory of the fallen heroes was honored with a minute of silence, after which BRSM activists, to the sounds of the composition "Cranes," released balloons into the sky with paper cranes attached, bearing the names of the Vitebsk region's liberator heroes.

After the official ceremony, the event continued with a military parade, opened by drummers from the Vitebsk Cadet School. Following in the parade formation are soldiers of the special forces, servicemen of the 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade, soldiers of the internal troops, the Vitebsk garrison, and units of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. The colorful concluding chord of the rally is expected to be the performance of representatives of the Vitebsk Aeroclub named after A.K. Gorovets.

Festive celebrations, a concert on Victory Square, and performances by creative groups on city concert venues will take place throughout the day. Vitebsk residents and guests of the regional center can expect a demonstration of the uniforms and attire of Red Army soldiers and officers from the war years, performances by brass bands, sports competitions, thematic exhibitions, and various patriotic events. The final event of the day will be a festive fireworks display, which will take place on Victory Square at 23:00.

Source: BELTA. Photos: BELTA, "Vitbichi", "Vitebskiye Vesti", Internal Affairs Directorate of the Regional Executive Committee.