The Great Patriotic War claimed millions of lives and ruined destinies.

The Great Patriotic War claimed millions of lives and ruined destinies. Its destructive power was unleashed upon Belarus, vast territories of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The brotherly republics sent soldiers to defend their common Motherland. In almost every settlement in Belarus, there are burial sites of soldiers and civilians who perished during the Great Patriotic War. It is the duty of the current generations to remember the feat of our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, to know the history of their native land, its role in the course of the Great Patriotic War, and to pass this knowledge on to future generations.

The soil from the Motherland is sacred. Native soil, stained with the blood of the fallen, is doubly so. It is symbolic dust. The international commemorative event "In Glory of the Common Victory," dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the Great Patriotic War, is taking place in all regions of our country. Lepel District has also not remained aloof from such an important event.
Solemn ceremonies were held in each village council at memorial sites established in memory of those who defended their native land from the fascist invaders. There are 51 burial sites of those who perished during the Great Patriotic War on the territory of Lepel District, from which soil was ceremoniously collected.

As part of the patriotic campaign, a rally was held on Privokzalnaya Square near the monument to the liberator soldiers.

The Chairman of the District Executive Committee, Mikhail Kiselevich, addressed the attendees:
— Soon our country will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. The echo of those terrible events resonates with pain not only in the hearts of veterans but also in the generations born in the post-war period. To preserve the memory, the campaign "In Glory of the Common Victory" is being held throughout the republic. Symbolic handfuls of soil have been collected from the memorial sites where defenders and civilians who died in battles with the German-fascist invaders are buried. The campaign, which Lepel District has joined, is dedicated to those people who, sparing their lives, defended their native land from the enemy…
Speakers at the rally spoke about the brutal battles that took place on the Lepel land at the beginning of the war, about the courage of the local residents and Red Army soldiers who fought there, about the powerful partisan and underground movement, about dozens of villages burned down in the district, and about the reprisals of the occupiers against the civilian population. Duringover 12,000 people died in the district during the war, and 48 villages were burned down.
The culmination of the first stage of the "In Glory of the Common Victory" campaign was the filling of the capsule.
The right to place soil from military burial sites located in rural settlements into the capsule was granted to the chairpersons of rural executive committees. Thus, the chairperson of the Gorsky rural executive committee, Vasily Badyai, poured soil from a bag taken from the military burial site in the village of Gorodchevichi into the capsule. The chairperson of the Kamensky rural executive committee, Nikolay Sinitsyn, placed sacred soil from military burial sites No. 2229 and No. 5433 of the agro-town of Kamen and from the military burial site of the village of Kabak. The chairperson of the Lepel rural executive committee, Vasily Shapka, placed soil from the military burial sites of the settlements of Chertsy, Lyudchitsy, Bolshoy Polsvizh, and Chernoruchye.

The soil from the military burial sites located within the city of Lepel was placed by the chairperson of the district executive committee, Mikhail Kiselevich. The soil was taken from military burial sites located on the territory of the military hospital, Freedom Square, and Privokzalnaya Square.

The capsule has been handed over to the Lepel Museum of Local Lore for temporary storage. The soil from places sacred to every Belarusian will be delivered to the capital of Belarus, where on May 9, a solemn ceremony will be held to lay the capsules in the crypt of the Church-Monument in honor of All Saints and in memory of the victims who served the salvation of our Fatherland, for eternal prayerful remembrance. Thus, symbolically, all those who fought shoulder to shoulder, achieving a common Victory for all in different combat zones of the Great Patriotic War, will be reunited.

Then, the floor was given to Archpriest Sergey Leshkevich, who noted that this campaign is a unique event not only for Lepel region but for the entire republic and the entire Slavic people. It is being held so that gratitude for the feat of our ancestors lives within us. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends," as stated in the Gospel.

At the end of the rally, flowers were laid at the mass grave in memory of the soldiers who died defending the Fatherland.

There is not a single family that the war has not touched," said Viktor Azarenok, deputy chairperson of the district executive committee. "All the events that are taking place in our district within the framework of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory are a tribute of memory to those people who, during the harsh years of military hardship, fought selflessly and laid down their lives so that we can live today.

on their native land, in Belarus, they raised children and built houses.

Our people took up arms only for one reason – to defend their Motherland. Belarusians are always distinguished by hospitality and good neighbourliness towards all countries. The peoples who forged Victory over fascism together 75 years ago are forever bound by sacred ties of brotherhood and peace-loving. After all, the history of the Great Victory is our common sacred memory and our duty to preserve the peace won at such a high price!

On the eve of the event, the participants tidied up memorials and military burials in the territory of Lepel district. Organizations and rural executive committees, which are responsible for the care of the respective burials, are taking all necessary measures to maintain them in proper condition, they are constantly cared for, and capital and cosmetic repairs are carried out as needed.