Memorial trip to former WWII battlefields starts on Sunday.

MOSCOW, December 6 (Itar-Tass) - Hundreds of participants in the
Moscow children's movement will on Sunday set out on a memorial trip to
the former battlefields of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). The tour
will start from Moscow's Poklonnaya Hill. It is timed to coincide with the
68th anniversary of a counter- offensive of Soviet troops against the
German occupiers in the Battle of Moscow in November 1941.

The children will visit a memorial complex of the 32nd rifle division
in Moscow's Odintsovo region, the Alley of Victory memorial in Klin, a
memorial complex and a common grave of 28 Panfilov heroes near
Volokolamsk, a common grave in Naro-Fominsk and a memorial to Podolsk
cadets.
The memorial action is being held for the sixth consecutive year.

.Perm enters second day of mourning for nightclub fire victims.

PERM, the Urals, December 6 (Itar-Tass) - The death toll from the
deadly nightclub fire in Perm has reached 110 people, 101 dead bodies have
been identified as the city enters its second day of mourning.
Oleg Chirkunov, the governor of the Perm region, has announced three
days of mourning for those who died in a fire at the Lame Horse nightclub
early on Saturday. Russian national flags and the flags of the Perm region
on all the buildings are flying at half- mast. Cultural events and
entertainments have either been cancelled or restricted. The Perm Opera
and Ballet Theatre has cancelled all the performances. An international
contest of fashion designers has been postponed.
Ninety-one patients suffering from severe burns have been taken by
plane to hospitals in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Chelyabinsk. About 40
people remained in Perm hospitals tonight.
The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill has sent a telegram of
condolences to the leaders and the head of the eparchy of the Perm
territory. He asked them to convey the words of support and compassion to
the families and relatives of those who died in the Saturday nightclub
fire and to all who were hurt or wounded in that tragedy.
"The Church is praying and will pray for those who died in the
tragedy, it will ask the Lord to take care of them in their lives which
are to come. We are also praying hard for those who are now between life
and death and about all people who have found themselves in hospital
wards. I honestly hope that the Lord will hear our prayer and will give
His help and consolation to all those whose fate has been affected by this
tragedy," Patriarch Kirill wrote in the telegram that was published by the
Moscow Patriarchate press service on Saturday. The head of the Russian
Orthodox Church stressed the need to think over the causes of the
nightclub tragedy. He also warned against immoderate merrymaking that can
sometimes end with trouble and grief.
Muslims and Orthodox Christians of the Perm territory are praying for
the health of those who were wounded in the nightclub fire early on
Saturday.
The Muslim World - 2009 inter-regional forum, which is being held in
Perm, has excluded all cultural events and entertainments from its
program. The delegates pray reading the Holy Koran.
A funeral service for those who died in the Lame Horse nightclub fire
will be held at the St. Trinity Cathedral in Perm on Monday, December 7.
Mournful services will be held in other Orthodox churches in Perm.
The Mayor of Perm Igor Shubin has presented condolences to the
relatives of the dead. The city authorities have said that the local
social welfare services are ready to start paying compensations (100,000
rubles for each dead person).
The people of Perm are putting flowers and lighting up candles on the
snow 20 meters away from the building sealed by police.
The investigators have finished the first inspection and collected
evidence. A second inspection of the place will be held on Sunday.

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