Verkhnedvinsk district will host the 51st meeting of veterans from three countries at the Mound of Friendship on July 4

July 1, Vitebsk / Sergey Kotovets - BELTA /. The 51st meeting of Great Patriotic War veterans at the Mound of Friendship, located on the border of Belarus, Russia, and Latvia, will be held on July 4. This year, the Belarusian side will host the guests, with the main events taking place in the Verkhnedvinsk district, the BELTA correspondent was informed by the department of ideological work of the district executive committee. By tradition, 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. The ensemble of dance, music, and song "Talaka" of the Vitebsk Regional Philharmonic and the choir "Veteran" of the Verkhnedvinsk District House of Culture will perform for the meeting participants. The concluding chord of the memorial meeting will be an evening of reminiscences by an improvised campfire of Friendship, in the ritual of lighting which, by tradition, representatives of the three countries will take part. The delegations of the three countries will include participants from youth organizations, and it is possible that cooperation between the youth of the Sebezh and Verkhnedvinsk districts in various areas of public life will be initiated on Belarusian soil. The organizers of the event will set up a number of exhibition sites at the meeting place, where the exhibition of photographs "Faces of Victory," creative works by students of the district, and a book exhibition dedicated to the Great Patriotic War will be presented. In addition, trade rows will be set up for veterans and members of official delegations, where it will be possible to get acquainted with and purchase a variety of products from enterprises of the Vitebsk region. A total of about 1,000 people are expected to participate in the traditional memorial meeting of veterans. The Mound of Friendship was built in 1959 on the border of three republics - Belarus, Russia, and Latvia - in honor of the combat cooperation of partisans and underground fighters. Earth for the Mound was taken from the graves of partisans and Red Army soldiers who gave their lives for the Motherland; an oak tree grows at its summit as a symbol of the unbreakable friendship of the three peoples. Three granite slabs are embedded in the Mound, inscribed in three languages: "The Mound of Friendship is erected at the junction of the borders of three fraternal republics in honor of the combat friendship, cemented by the blood of Russian, Belarusian, and Latvian partisans during the Great Patriotic War. Opened on July 3, 1959." Three alleys lead from the Mound: the alley towards Belarus is planted with birches, towards Russia - with maples, and towards Latvia - with lindens. At the end of the birch alley in the Verkhnedvinsk district (Vitebsk region), there is a memorial museum dedicated to the partisan movement. -0-