The restored "Breakthrough" memorial in the Uшачи district will be opened on May 9

The "Proryv" (Breakthrough) memorial complex in the Ushachi district will be solemnly opened after reconstruction and restoration on May 9, as reported to journalists by the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev, who took part in a labor event of the republican project "Flowers of the Great Victory" today.

"A meeting of the headquarters was held in Ushachi yesterday, and it was finally decided that on May 9, after the procession and rally in Vitebsk, the regional leadership, as well as guests from other districts, will go to Ushachi, where we will solemnly open the "Proryv" memorial complex after reconstruction. It will be a worthy event and a worthy object to be proud of," noted Vladimir Terentyev. According to him, builders are currently applying the finishing touches, completing landscaping, and installing decorative lighting, which will make the partisan figure and the concrete gate-blocks even more expressive and noticeable. So, even a random traveler will definitely stop to visit the memorial.

Vladimir Terentyev did not disclose the exact amount spent on reconstruction yet. He emphasized that budget investments were significantly reduced without compromising the work – due to tenders, reduced costs of construction materials, as well as sponsorship and donations. For example, during the republican subbotnik in the Vitebsk region, Br8.3 billion was earned (according to updated data), and half of these funds, which will remain in the region, will be directed to pay for the reconstruction work of "Proryv".

The decision on the reconstruction and restoration of the memorial was made in 2015. The Scientific and Methodological Council of the Ministry of Culture approved Yuri Gradov, a renowned Belarusian architect and one of the authors of the memorial complex, as the scientific supervisor of the restoration work at the site. He could simultaneously carry out author's supervision of the memorial during the restoration.

The "Breakthrough" complex, a symbol of the courage and resilience of partisans during the Great Patriotic War, is considered one of the most significant creations of monumental art of the BSSR. It was opened in June 1974 at the site of the breakthrough of the enemy blockade on May 5, 1944, by partisans of the Polotsk-Lepel zone, 7 km from Ushachi. Here, 16 partisan brigades led by the future Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lobanok broke out of the encirclement and fought against punitive detachments until the arrival of Soviet Army units. More than 15,000 civilians were able to escape along with the partisans.

Ekaterina Knyazeva, BELTA.