Russia remembers the tragedy of war |22 June 2021

Every year, on June 22, the day when the Great Patriotic War began in 1941, the ‘Candle of Memory’ ceremony starts in Russia, with people in all cities and villages lighting candles at 4am (exact time when the war broke off) in a sign of mourning for thos

Every year, on June 22, Russia observes the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, which marks the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in his address on the occasion of Victory Day on May 9, 2021 said, in part: “This year marks 80 years since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. June 22, 1941, is one of the most tragic dates in our history. An enemy attacked our country and invaded our land to kill and to spread death and pain, horror and immeasurable suffering.
“This enemy not only wanted to overthrow the Soviet political system but also to destroy us as a state, as a nation and wipe our peoples off the face of the earth.
We responded to the Nazi hordes invasion with a united, formidable and unstoppable determination to do everything in our power for the enemy to be defeated and for the criminals and murderers to receive inevitable and just punishment.
“The Soviet people fulfilled their sacred oath, defended their Motherland and liberated Europe from the ‘brown plague’.
“The Soviet people issued a historic verdict to Nazism with the power of their weapons on battlefields and with their moral strength and righteousness, the self-sacrificing bravery of soldiers’ mothers and the faithfulness of those who waited, every day, for a message from the frontline from their loved ones. The Soviet people won, thanks to the power of kindness and charity that has been inherent to our national character since the earliest times.
“This power was manifested in the heroism of doctors and nurses who saved the wounded and fought for every life in the trenches, in the heat of battle, and in hospitals on the frontline and on the home front.
“Back then, in 1941 there were still four years of the most violent war ahead. That war was a strike at our future, our youth, our youngest generation and, therefore, those who were never to be born.
“The war brought upon us so many unbearable ordeals, grief and tears that it is impossible to forget. Those who are plotting new aggressions cannot be forgiven or justified.
“It has been almost 100 years since the time when the abominable Nazi beast was gaining insolence and predatory strength in Central Europe. The slogans of racial and ethnic supremacy, anti-Semitism and Russophobia were becoming more and more cynical. Agreements designed to stop the landslide towards a world war were easily broken off.
“History demands that we learn from it. Unfortunately, attempts are made to make use of a large part of Nazi ideology and the ideas of those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their own supremacy.
This ideology is not only supported by radicals and international terrorist groups of all kinds. Today we are witnessing the surviving members of those killing squads and their followers trying to rewrite history and justify the traitors and criminals whose hands are smeared with the blood of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
“Our people know too well how this can end. Every single family in our country cherishes the sacred memory of those who fought for our Victory and we will always be proud of their feats.
“Russia is consistently defending international law while continuing to protect our national interests and the security of our people.”

Contributed