Candle of Memory lit for millions of Great Patriotic War victims.

MOSCOW, June 22 (Itar-Tass) -- "The Candle of Memory" was lit up in
commemoration of the war victims at the Unknown Soldier Tomb in the
Alexandrovsky Garden at the Kremlin walls on the eve of the 68th
anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War here on Sunday.

"The Candle of Memory is a great tribute, the commemoration to those
heroes who died for our Motherland," chairman of the State Duma Committee
for Relations with Public Associations and Religious Organizations Sergei
Popov said at the ceremony. "I hope that there will be more and more
windows with burning candles in the night city every year," the lawmaker
said.
The Candle of Memory ceremony is scheduled in the cities of Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus. The commemoration action will be held for the first
time at the initiative of a state patriotic club of the United Russia
Party and with the support of youth and veteran organizations "Nashi",
"Young Russia" and "Brotherhood-in-Arms".
A commemoration action will be held on the Vorobyevy Hills at Moscow
State University at 04.00 Moscow time on June 22, the hour when the Great
Patriotic War began. "The candle is a symbol of our memory and prayer,"
the organizers of the action told Itar-Tass. The organizers urged each
Russian citizen to join the action overnight to June 22 putting a burning
candle on the windowsill or going out in the street. The initiative was
supported in various cities, particularly Volgograd and Yaroslavl.
A remembrance service will be held in commemoration of all war victims
at the St. George the Victorious Church in Moscow on June 22. Flowers will
be laid to the statue "Sorrow" and a concert requiem will be held. On
Monday movies about the Great Patriotic War will be shown and wartime
songs will be played at a museum on the Poklonnaya Hill. The Moscow
government and the Russian Culture Ministry will give a commemoration
diner for veterans.

.Russia, Moldova presidents to discuss bilateral coop in Moscow.

MOSCOW, June 22 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and
visiting Moldovan counterpart Vladimir Voronin will meet in Moscow on
Monday to discuss a wide range of the problems prioritized for
Russian-Moldovan partnership and integration cooperation within the
Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS). The Moldovan president will
pay a working visit in Moscow at the invitation of the Russian president.
"Since the date of the visit - June 22 is the Day of Memory and Sorrow
for those who died during the Great Patriotic War or those who overcame
all war hardships, the presidents will lay a wreath at the Unknown Soldier
Tomb on Monday morning," a source in the Kremlin told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
According to him, "The talks will highlight the situation in Moldova
over an election campaign launched before early elections due on July 29."
"The leaders of the countries will also discuss the state and
prospects of development of trade-economic relations between our
countries," the source said. "Russia remains one of Moldova's main
economic partners. In 2008 the Russian-Moldovan trade reached 1.79 billion
dollars (a 32.1% growth as compared with 2007), including the Russian
exports - 1.14 billion dollars (a 31.7% growth) and the imports - 651.1
million dollars (a 32.9% growth).
The world financial crisis affected the bilateral trade at the
beginning of this year, the source said. Meanwhile, the reduction in the
bilateral trade is keeping at about 30% as compared with the same period
of the previous year. This reduction occurred due to an unfavorable price
environment on raw materials, breakdowns in Russian gas supplies and the
half of several enterprises in the Dniester region.
In this connection the leaders of the countries will discuss the
problem of the trade diversification, the expansion of regional ties,
bringing the bilateral relations to a new qualitative level through
investment projects.
The president will also consider the integration cooperation within
the CIS, taking into account that the Republic of Moldova is presiding in
the CIS this year, and Russia will take over the CIS presidency in 2010.

.Zenit rocket delivering Malaysia telecom satellite to orbit(adds).

MOSCOW, June ee (Itar-Tass) -- A Zenit-3SLB rocket was launched from
the Baikonur spaceport to bring to the geostationary orbit the Malaysian
telecom satellite Measat 1R on Monday.
"The Roskosmos launch team blasted off the booster 1:50 a.m. Moscow
time on Monday under the Land Launch project," a source in the Federal
Space Agency (Roskosmos) told Itar-Tass.
The three-stage rocket Zenit-3SLB is a product of the Yuzhnoye Design
Bureau, similar with the Zenit-3SL used by the Sea Launch Corporation. The
Energia Aerospace Corporation has designed the booster unit DM-SLB
particularly for this model of the Zenit rocket. It is environmentally
friendly, as it uses kerosene and oxygen for fuel. The takeoff weight of
the rocket is 466 tonnes, and the length is 58 meters. It can bring up to
13 tonnes of payload to low orbits.
The Measat 1R satellite with twelve C-transponders and twelve
Ku-transponders will provide high-quality communications in Asia,
Australia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. Ku-transponders
will offer TV service in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Land Launch project involves the Transport Machine Building Design
Bureau and the Energia Aerospace Corporation of Russia, and the Yuzhnoye
Design Bureau and the Yuzhmash plant of Ukraine. The project provides
commercial launches and delivers Russian satellites to orbit.
The Measat 1R launch was initially planned for August 22, 2008, but
the satellite was damaged in transportation and assembly works at Baikonur
and the launch were delayed.
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