Almost 18,000 Great Patriotic War veterans live in Belarus

As of January 1, 2015, there are 17,773 veterans of the Great Patriotic War living in Belarus, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection informed a BELTA correspondent.

According to specialists, among the 12,000 participants of the Great Patriotic War, 3,200 are disabled.

Unfortunately, the number of Great Patriotic War veterans is decreasing every year due to advanced age, illnesses, and consequences of injuries. In 2012, 5,100 war veterans passed away, in 2013 - over 4,700, and in 2014 - about 4,300 people.

There are two Heroes of the Soviet Union living in the republic who received this high title during the Great Patriotic War: Vasily Sergeevich Michurin and Ivan Ilyich Kustov from Minsk. Viktor Dmitrievich Vetoshkin, the country's only holder of the Order of Glory of all three degrees, also lives in the capital.

As of January 1 of the current year, the republic had 4,800 individuals awarded USSR orders or medals for selfless labour and impeccable military service in the rear during the war, as well as 300 who worked at air defence facilities, construction of defensive structures, front-line railway and road sections, and crew members of vessels interned in the ports of other countries at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

In Belarus, as of January 1, there were 79 people who participated in special units in demining territories and facilities after liberation from German occupation in 1943-1945. The country is home to over 600 people who worked at enterprises, institutions, and organisations in Leningrad during the blockade and were awarded the medal "For the Defence of Leningrad", as well as the badge "Resident of Blockaded Leningrad".

In addition, Belarus has 847 individuals who are disabled from childhood due to injuries, concussions, or mutilations related to combat operations during the Great Patriotic War or its consequences. There are 1,100 family members of fallen soldiers and partisans.

25,900 residents of the republic have been recognised as former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, prisons, ghettos, and other places of forced detention.

The Ministry has informed that a one-time financial assistance payment will be made to veterans of the Great Patriotic War and representatives of categories of persons affected by the consequences of the war on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. A draft of the corresponding decree has been developed and submitted to the Council of Ministers.

As previously reported, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, a one-time financial assistance payment was made to 50.1 thousand veterans of the Great Patriotic War and persons affected by the consequences of the war. The total amount of payments made was Br236 billion.

News of Belarus (BELTA)