Patriarch leads memorial service on Battlefield of Prokhorovka.

PROKHOROVKA (Belgorod region), May 3 (Itar-Tass) -- The celebrations
on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory were held on
the Battlefield of Prokhorovka, where the most large-scale tank battle in
the war history broke out in 1943. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Kirill, Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev, chairman of the Russian Union
of Writers Valery Ganichev, senators from the Federation Council and
veterans of the Great Patriotic War were attending the celebrations. About
3,000 people gathered at the Church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, which
had been built by the 50th anniversary of the Great Victory in 1995.
Patriarch Kirill led a memorial service for the heroes, who fell in a
bloody tank battle. "The more time passes after that horrible war, the
more precious the life is in our society of war veterans, who are the
keepers of the living historical memory, heroes of the spirit, who
defeated the enemy," the patriarch said. "The feat committed by the army
and the wartime generation is a precious treasury of our national history,
a great example for future generations," he noted.
"If we want to curb disorder and to ensure the prosperous development
in peace of our Fatherland, we should have a strong spirit," the supreme
hierarch said. He also noted that "the sense of duty is a moral term." "No
laws, even harsh laws of the wartimes guaranteed the fulfillment of the
duty. Here on this third battlefield of Russia we believe that the God can
preserve our people, build up our moral foundations and help to fulfill
our duty with all heart and soul," the patriarch pointed out.
After the memorial service the war veterans were awarded with the
Victory anniversary medals. Patriarch Kirill attended an unveiling
ceremony of a new memorial entitled "The Third Battlefield of Russia." The
Battle of Prokhorovka along with the Battle of Kulikovo against the
Tatar-Mongol yoke and the Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon French
invasion are among the historic events, which show the valour of the
Russian people.
More than 1,200 tanks participated in the Battle of Prokhorovka in the
southern part of the Kursk Arch. The Nazi forces engaged in the battle new
tanks Tiger and Panther and intended to take revenge for the defeat in the
Battles for Moscow and Stalingrad. The attack of the Nazi troops was
rebuffed in a bloody battle. Belgorod and Oryol were liberated less than a
month later. The first artillery salute in honour of this victory was
fired in Moscow.
Before the celebrations on the Battlefield of Prokhorovka His Holiness
Kirill consecrated the largest church in Belgorod. The Church of Faith,
Hope, Charity and their Mother Sophia with 17 domes on an area totaling
about 3,000 square meters was built in the Belgorod residential area
Kharkovskaya Gora. This place is just 70 kilometers away from the Russian
state border with Ukraine. It is noteworthy that the major street of this
Russian city is named after Ukrainian national hero Bogdan Khmelnitsky.
The new church became the 23rd church in Belgorod with the population
of 400,000 people. All these churches have been built for the last 15
years. Only two olden houses preserved in the ancient Russian city of
Belgorod, which was almost completely destroyed during the Great Patriotic
War. Several thousand Belgorod residents attended the festive event on
this sunny May day. Glossy Black Chokeberry already started blossoming at
the church gates. An Orthodox Christian educational center is situated
near the church. Students of the Belgorod ecclesiastical seminary work
there as missionaries.
All top officials of the city and the region were attending the church
consecration ceremony and the Divine Liturgy led by Patriarch Kirill. In a
congratulatory message on the consecration of the new church His Holiness
Kirill emphasized that "churches are being built for people to feel the
abundant life, joy and calmness." "The Kingdom of God can be reached not
only through the overcoming of ordeals, but when there is peace in the
heart and the mind is calm," he said. The patriarch awarded Governor of
the Belgorod Region Yevgeny Savchenko and several church donors with
church medals.

.ITAR-TASS, BelTA to hold photo exhibition on WWII Victory at UN HQ.

NEW YORK, May 3 (Itar-Tass) -- The photo exhibition "We Won Together"
will open at 06.00 p.m. EST on Monday (02.00 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday)
at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The photo exhibition is
timed to the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory in World War Two and is
based on the photo archives provided by the Russian state news agency
ITAR-TASS and the Belarusian state news agency BelTA. The exposition was
organized thanks to the active support of the Permanent Mission of the
Russian Federation to the United Nations.
The photo exhibition will show how the peoples included in the
multinational Soviet Union were forging on the warfronts and in the rear
the Great Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The photo exhibition will be among the events timed to the 65th
anniversary of the Great Victory and organized by the Russian Permanent
Mission to the United Nations. The U.N. General Assembly will hold a
special meeting on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Great
Victory in World War Two in the morning on May 6. The Russian diplomatic
mission in New York will give a festive reception on behalf of the
Permanent Missions of the CIS states to the United Nations in the evening
on May 6. The CIS Youth Symphony Orchestra led by world-renowned conductor
Vladimir Spivakov will give a concert at the U.N. headquarters on May 7.
Famous pianist Denis Matsuyev will perform at the concert.
-0-baz