Remembrance ceremony for war dead to be held in Russia

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MOSCOW, June 21 (Itar-Tass) - A remembrance ceremony commemorating
more than 26 million Soviet men, women and children who died during the
Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) will be held in Russia on Sunday. It is
timed to coincide with the Day of Memory and Grief traditionally marked on
June 22, a day when Nazi Germany attacked the USSR without warning in 1941.
Candles will be lit from 23:00 to 24:00 in the Hall of Military Glory
in the Museum of Victory on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, the Piskaryev
cemetery in St. Petersburg, the Mamayev Kurgan memorial in Volgograd as
well as in Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl and Smolensk as part of the "Candle of
Memory: June 22" action, a source at the Central Museum of the Great
Patriotic War of 1941-1945 told Itar-Tass.
The "candle of memory" action was established in modern Russia in
2006. The same kind of remembrance ceremonies are expected to be held in
the Brest fortress on Belarus' western border and the Belarusian capital
of Minsk as well as in Kiev and Sebastopol in Ukraine.
Deputies of the Russian State Duma and representatives of religious,
public, veteran, youth and patriotic organizations will be present at the
ceremony on Moscow's Poklonnaya Hill. The event has been initiated by the
state and patriotic club of the United Russia Party and supported by the
Russia television channel.
Pavel Illarionov, the executive director of the "Candle of Memory"
international memorial and public centre, has said that people will be
able to light candles in churches, cathedrals and chapels on June 21 and
June 22.
"No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten" will be the motto under
which volunteers will distribute candles ahead of the remembrance ceremony.

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