The remains of a pilot from the Beshenkovichi district, who died during the Great Patriotic War, were solemnly handed over to the Belarusian delegation in Gelendzhik

A solemn ceremony dedicated to the transfer of the remains of Junior Lieutenant Stepan Semenovich Kovalenko, a native of the Beshenkovichi district, took place in Gelendzhik. The Telegram channel "Vitebsk Region. Officially" provides details.

The senior pilot did not return from a combat mission in February 1943.

During search operations conducted by the "Kubanpoisk" Association of Search Squads in 2021 near Gelendzhik, wreckage of a Soviet I-16 fighter and the pilot's remains were discovered. It was established that the remains belonged to Junior Lieutenant Kovalenko S.S. In the summer of 2022, the pilot's relatives were found, and they expressed their wish for his reburial.

The Belarusian delegation was headed by Sergey Rachkov, Chairman of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus for International Affairs and National Security. Also arriving in Gelendzhik were Vyacheslav Krol, Deputy Head of the Main Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, and Galina Unukovich, Chairperson of the Beshenkovichi District Executive Committee.