An updated monument to V. Lobanok's brigade has been unveiled in Chashniki District

In the Chashniki district, a memorial stele to Vladimir Lobanok's brigade was solemnly unveiled today after reconstruction, reports BELTA correspondent.

The festive event, dedicated to Independence Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, was attended by Great Patriotic War veteran Lev Gavrilovich Plyut, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies Vladimir Terentyev, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Boris Efremov, representatives of local authorities, the district military commissariat, and youth.

According to Vladimir Terentyev, it is very important and significant that we remember the names of warriors known throughout the republic – Lobanok, Dubrovsky, Raitsyev, Shmyrev, as well as the military leaders who headed the fronts that liberated the country. "This testifies to the stable and purposeful work being carried out in Belarus to preserve memory," said the Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies.

He called today's event symbolic. "This is not just the location of detachment No. 68. In fact, we are in one of the key places where the partisan movement originated in the Vitebsk region and in the republic, which eventually became the Polotsk-Lepel partisan zone," explained Vladimir Terentyev.

He expressed special words of gratitude to the Chairman of the Chashniki District DOSAAF structure Viktor Galay and the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Organization of the Trade Union of State Institution Workers Sergey Dogel, thanks to whose initiative and efforts the memorial stele with the names of the partisans of the Lobanok brigade was renovated. The previous one, which had become heavily dilapidated over time, was installed in the post-war years during the lifetime of the brigade commander and played an important role in the social life of local residents. Soviet schoolchildren from nearby villages were initiated into the Pioneers near it, and solemn rallies were held on Victory Day. This place has not lost its significance in our days: now it hosts meetings of veterans, "Afghans" and youth, thematic cultural and sports events, and cycling races.

"The renovated facility opened today is only part of a larger project related to landscaping and the creation of a museum here," emphasized the Chairman of the Chashniki District Executive Committee, Leonid Pleshko. In the coming years, it is planned to put in order the entire territory near the stele, including the two mock-ups of partisan dugouts located here. Further, the possibility of erecting a wooden log house here is being discussed, which will house a thematic museum with exhibits and materials about the brigade's activities.

An important part of today's event was the laying of flowers and wreaths by the participants of the event as part of the "Belarus Remembers. We Remember Everyone" campaign, initiated by pioneers. The event continued with the open district festival of military-patriotic songs "Song is Part of Your Soul," where participants performed songs of the war years, about their homeland and Belarus.

Vladimir Lobanok, a native of the Minsk region, met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in Lepel. From the first days, he remained behind enemy lines to organize patriotic underground and partisan movements. He led partisan brigade No. 68. In August 1942, he was appointed commissar of the Dubova Chashniki partisan brigade, and from October 1943, he headed the Belarusian Headquarters of the Partisan Movement for the Polotsk-Lepel zone, coordinating the activities of 16 brigades. For his merits to the Fatherland during the war and in peacetime, he was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Orders of the October Revolution, the Red Banner, Suvorov I degree, the Patriotic War I degree, and other awards.

News of Belarus (BELTA)