MINSK, 17 June (BelTA) – The Flame of Peace torch relay of the 2nd European Games is approaching Minsk. On 16 June, the flame was brought to the Stalin Line and the Mound of Glory, BelTA has learned.
At the Stalin Line the flame was carried by Director General of the national cinema studio Belarusfilm Vladimir Karachevsky, Belarusian strongman Kirill Shimko and others.
Later, the torchbearers were welcomed at the Mound of Glory Memorial. According to Chairperson of the Minsk Oblast Council of Deputies Natalia Yakubitskaya, the relay went through many cities of the region, including Borisov, Zhodino, Smolevichi, Logoisk, Molodechno, and Zaslavl. “The relay united different people, athletes, artists, civil servants and all those who is attracted to sports. Thirty-two athletes from Minsk Oblast will take part in the 2nd European Games. We will all root for them,” Natalia Yakubitskaya said.
The flame was handed over from 1980 Olympic champion in weightlifting Leonid Taranenko to 2010 Olympic champion in aerials Aleksei Grishin, and then to Honored Artists of Belarus Alyona Lanskaya and Irina Dorofeyeva, TV host and businessmen Denis Kuryan and TV host Marina Gritsuk.
The Mound of Glory became the last stop for the torch relay en route to the Belarusian capital.
The Flame of Peace for the 2nd edition of the European Games was lit at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome on 3 May. Then, Belarusian climbers took the torch to the summit of Mont Blanc. In Europe, the Flame of Peace traveled through Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. In Belarus, the torch relay has already visited Brest Oblast, Grodno Oblast, Vitebsk Oblast, Mogilev Oblast, Gomel Oblast and Minsk Oblast. Minsk will welcome the Flame of Peace in State Flag Square on 17 June. The Flame of Peace torch relay will finish at Dinamo Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2nd European Games on 21 June.
Photo courtesy of MEGOC
