A solemn ceremony was held to bestow the name of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Honorary Citizen of Vitebsk, Fyodor Blokhin, and the title "School of Peace" upon Secondary School No. 2 of Vitebsk.
A solemn ceremony was held to bestow the name of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Honorary Citizen of Vitebsk, Fyodor Blokhin, and the title "School of Peace" upon Secondary School No. 2 of Vitebsk.On the night of June 26, 1944, during the liberation of Vitebsk from the Nazi invaders as part of the Belarusian strategic operation "Bagration," units of the 158th Rifle Division of the 39th Army forced the Western Dvina River and broke into the centre of Vitebsk. The Nazis had left only one bridge across the river for their troops to cross, but they had also mined it.
A sapper group led by Senior Sergeant Fyodor Blokhin stealthily approached the bridge and eliminated the guards. Fyodor Blokhin rushed to the supports under the decking, where approximately 2 tonnes of explosives had been laid, and two minutes before detonation, he cut the wire leading to the charges. After disarming the explosive mechanism, the soldiers held the bridge, repelling enemy attacks, until the main forces arrived. For this feat, Fyodor Timofeyevich Blokhin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The solemn ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies Vladimir Terentyev, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the City Executive Committee – Nikolai Orlov and Viktor Glushin, the Head and Deputy Head of the Administration of the Zheleznodorozhny District – Alexey Geroyev and Elena Sharai, the Chairman of the Board of the Regional Branch of the Belarusian Peace Foundation Tatyana Tumanova, and other distinguished guests, school educators, and their students.
A solemn rally took place. Vladimir Terentyev presented the Director of Secondary School No. 2 of Vitebsk, Elena Beloded, with a certificate bestowing the name of Hero of the Soviet Union F. T. Blokhin upon the educational institution.
Members of the memorial detachment of post number one of the state educational institution "Secondary School No. 2 of Vitebsk named after F. T. Blokhin" were given the honour of laying flowers at the bas-relief of Fyodor Blokhin.
A group of schoolchildren recited the solemn oath of peacekeepers. Following this, the distinguished guests presented these schoolchildren with insignia of affiliation to the "Peacemaker" movement, and then participated in planting the "Alley of Remembrance" near the portrait of Fyodor Timofeyevich Blokhin on the school building.