Lepel district welcomed the participants of the "Roads of Memory and Feat" motor rally, organised by the regional public organisation for civic-patriotic education "Arkhangelsk Regional Search and Training Centre".

A total of about 30 residents from the neighbouring country arrived in the Lepel land. The guests were welcomed with bread and salt, as is customary.

The important meeting began with a commemorative event at the burial site of Red Army soldiers.

Here, Belarusians and Russians exchanged soil. It should be noted that it is in this very place that the bodies of two servicemen, natives of the Arkhangelsk region, who died during the Great Patriotic War, are interred.

Representatives of the district authorities, the deputy corps, the veteran movement, activists of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM), the "Kanonyr" club, students from the School of Peace, members of the young rescuers' detachment, and other concerned residents of Lepel also participated in the ceremony.

Igor Urban, head of the district's deputy corps, welcomed the guests and emphasised the importance of Belarusians and Russians cherishing their shared historical past.

Elena Nedzvetskaya, head of the public organisation for civic-patriotic education "Arkhangelsk Interregional Search Centre", announced the launch of the "Gorsť Pamyati" (Handful of Memory) campaign. Residents of Lepel and guests from Arkhangelsk conducted the soil exchange ceremony...

- We visit the places where our countrymen perished, pay tribute to their memory, bestow earthly and military honours, transfer a particle of soil from the burial sites in the city of military glory, Arkhangelsk, and receive yours from the settlements where they gave their lives as part of the "Gorsť Pamyati" campaign.

Residents of Lepel and the Arkhangelsk region laid wreaths and flowers at the monument to the Red Army soldiers…

Belarus and Russia remember their heroes. This is important for everyone, primarily for the relatives of the soldiers who, after many years, are reconstructing their family history, where the phrase "missing in action" was often heard. It is also important for children who are creating archives.

Elena Serebro, chief specialist of the Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the district executive committee, on behalf of the district's ideological vertical, as well as the district organisation of the public association "Belarusian Women's Union", presented the guests from Russia with decorative compositions made of fabric flowers in the national flag colours and apple blossom petals.

Belarusian Lepel and Russian Arkhangelsk are separated by approximately 1800 kilometres. However, this has not become an obstacle to a noble cause. In addition to our district centre, the route of the motor rally passes through Tolochin, Novolukoml, Chashniki, Sharkovshchyna, Miory, and Braslav.

- Approximately 30 members of our organisation are taking part in the motor rally – children, their parents and teachers, as well as relatives of soldiers who died on the territory of the Republic of Belarus during the war. In total, we have identified about 2.5 thousand surnames of our countrymen, half of whom forever remained to lie in the Vitebsk region, – says Elena Vasilievna, explaining: – The essence of the motor rally is not just to travel from point A to point B; it has a civic and patriotic focus. We visit the places where our countrymen died, pay tribute to their memory, secular and military honours, hand over a particle of earth from the burial sites in the city of military glory, Arkhangelsk, and receive yours from the settlements where they gave their lives.

In addition to participating in patriotic events, guests from the Arkhangelsk region are getting acquainted with the cultural heritage of the regions. In Lepel, the guests visited the district local history museum...

Another point on the route of the representatives of the fraternal people was the territory of the 52nd Separate Specialized Search Battalion.

We remind you that this is a unique unit; in Belarus, it is the only one engaged in the search and identification of the remains of military personnel who died during the Great Patriotic War and other wars that took place on the territory of our country.

Over 30 years of searches in the fields and archives, the remains of more than 50,000 fallen soldiers have been found and exhumed, and subsequently reburied, of whom nearly 30,000 died during the Great Patriotic War.

Patriotic, profound, atmospheric, sincere, powerful – this is how the concert programme "We Inherited Memory" can be characterised, in which guests from Arkhangelsk performed as artists. Concerts were held at the Borovsk House of Culture and Leisure and the Lepel House of Culture. The parade ground, vocal, dance numbers with flags, drums, rifles, musical and documentary accompaniment left no one indifferent.

One of the most touching moments was the presentation of awards and medals to the members of the search centre. It is valuable and symbolic that the celebration is taking place precisely on the Lepel land!

We have no right to forget the lessons of war!

Belarus and Russia are two sisters under the blue sky!

The head of the Arkhangelsk centre, Elena Nedzvetskaya, thanked the residents of Lepel for their assistance in the search activities:

- It is very pleasant that we are always met with hospitality and warmth on Belarusian soil.

The leader of the district's deputy corps, Igor Urban, delivered a response speech.

- Please accept our sincere gratitude for your work in immortalising the bright memory of your fellow countrymen who perished and participated in the Great Patriotic War. The activities of your organisation make a huge contribution to preserving the memory of the feat of the Soviet people and to the civic and patriotic education of the youth of both Russia and Belarus. The Arkhangelsk region has produced many glorious defenders of the Fatherland, and we must remember their names. We wish you and your cause prosperity!

One story of two distant cities forms the basis of strong friendship and support for preserving the memory of the great feat of the people...


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