Day of Memories and Grief: Millions of Russians Light Candles on Anniversary of German Invasion
Today is the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in Russia. 77 years ago, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Our country had entered the bloodiest war in the human history, a war that claimed more than 27 million lives. In memory of the fallen in the Great Patriotic War, candles were lit all over Russia today. Foreign guests who came to the World Cup were also taking part in the events this time.
Our reporter Aleksey Petrov on the events of the day.
The fire that is being lit every year and that never actually died out in the hearts of millions. 1418 candles along the Crimean Promenade for the number of days in the Great Patriotic War. There are people from different generations here, many of them young, of the same age as those who went off to war in 1941. Each one has the face of some family member in their memory. Each one has their own candle in their heart.
Evgeniy Mishutin: "This is the remembrance of the beginning of the war, a war that we won. We suffered huge losses, but we never surrendered".
The heroes were honored all over the country. The Russian president took part in the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Vladimir Putin adjusted the ribbons on the wreath and bowed his head in memory of the fallen. Top government officials and speakers of both Parliament chambers laid flowers at the memorial. A ceremonial march was performed by members of the three branches of the armed forces: the Ground Forces, the Aerospace Forces and the Navy. At the end of the ceremony, Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the Alley of Hero Cities. Those who went off to war 77 years ago are remembered today everywhere.
"On June 22, at 4 in the morning, without declaration of war, German troops have attacked our country".
Mikhail Serebryakov, Veteran: "I walked out of my school and to the square, and there I heard the news from the PA system".
The first strike at 3:45 am hit the indomitable Brest Fortress. A requiem rally. The sky carved by projectors. The rumble of a cannonade. Earlier that day, the atmosphere of the last peaceful evening was recreated in Brest. A convoy of retro cars drove through the city. This is a 1938 restored armored car. One of the citadel defenders made a desperate move on a similar vehicle.
Vladimir Oleynik, Head of War History Society: "He tried to break out through the Northern Gates. He was looking for a way for the Red Army to come through".
Reconstruction of the Battle of Kobryn. This military position was held the longest. The troops were leaving Moscow from the Belorussky railway station where today civilians and veterans remember those who never came back home.
Gennadiy Sachenyuk, Artistic Director of Alexandrov Ensemble: "This song was written and rehearsed by the choir very fast, almost overnight. And on June 26, it was first performed at the Belorussky railway station."
The legendary song is played today all over the country, for example in Volgograd.
A song that speaks to everyone's heart. Among those present are foreign football fans, athletes, and delegations who came for the World Cup. Same in Sochi where German diplomats who represent the country's football union laid wreaths to the Memorial of Military Glory where they were joined by football fans.
Reinhard Grindel, President of German Football Association: "We came here with young people. We want to teach them that what matters most is to live in peace. We tell them that our mutual understanding and respect for human rights are what ensures that".
Solid peace is also ensured by the knowledge of history. Yellowed sheets of paper give an insight into the beginning of the war. Unique documents were made public today by the Ministry of Defence. Orders and reports from commanders of the units that bore the brunt of the German attack. Encrypted messages, hurriedly written in pencil. This is a declassified hand-written field order by Georgy Zhukov, signed off just 3 hours after the war had started. And this is a unique trophy map of the early stages of Operation Barbarossa showing the major strikes planned for Wehrmacht troops in the first days of the war.
Irina Yarovaya, Deputy Chairperson of Duma: "By keeping the eternal flame, we create a nationwide amulet for our country to protect it from all kinds of treachery, lies, and aggression".
Candles are also lit in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vladivostok. And this is Kemerovo. Here, Afghan veterans and policemen have joined the ceremony.
The fallen are also remembered today in the Smolensk Region. Here, in Vyazma, 70,000 of POWs died in a German transit camp.
Heads were also bowed in legendary Sevastopol where people remember well that the city was bombed already in the morning of June 22. Veterans and naval school students are also here. Black Sea Fleet servicemen and cadets, following an old tradition of naval schools, sailed paper boats on the sea.
Aleksey Petrov, Anton Kosimovich, Irina Kharlamova and Vladimir Ozerov. Vesti.
And as we speak, the Memorial Candle event is taking place in Yekaterinburg. Thousands of people are walking along the central streets. Among them are Japanese football fans. They've joined the procession to honor Soviet soldiers who triumphed over both German Nazism and Japanese imperialism. Earlier today, in Yekaterinburg, wreaths were laid at the memorial to soldiers who died in Ural evacuation hospitals.
In Kaliningrad, flowers were brought to the Mass Grave of Soviet soldiers who died in April 1945 trying to take the city back from Hitler's forces. Among those present were veterans, commanders of the Baltic Fleet and top officials of the Kaliningrad Region.
On the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in Samara, citizens and city guests came to the eternal flame. During the war, half a million people of the region went off to fight. Half of them never came back. Among those at the ceremony were football fans who came to the city for the World Cup.