MOSCOW, 28 June (BelTA) – There should not be any manipulation of the memory of the fallen and distortion of the history of the Great Patriotic War, State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia Dmitry Mezentsev told journalists following the ceremony to lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on 28 June on the occasion of the upcoming Belarus' Independence Day and the 77th anniversary of Belarus' liberation from Nazi invaders, BelTA has learned.
“I would like everyone – Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Europeans – to remember, respect, and honor the memory of the fallen, not to exploit it to someone's advantage, not to rewrite the history, not to humiliate veterans and homefront workers,” Dmitry Mezentsev stressed. “Time is relentless and there remain fewer and fewer veterans. We should use the opportunity to ask them to tell us about those events again and again, to thank them and to show them our respect,” he added.
According to Dmitry Mezentsev, Belarus' Independence Day is a special holiday not only for Belarusians, but also for citizens of all former Soviet countries. “Operation Bagration was an operation of the unified forces of the Soviet Union. We remember and respect it,” he noted.
