BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

09/05/2007

Belarus celebrates VE-Day

MINSK, May 9 (Itar-Tass) -- By tradition, 1941-145 Great Patriotic War veterans marched in Minsk on VE-Day on Wednesday.

About 200 grey-haired war veterans formed lines to march 800 meters from Oktyabrskaya Square to the Victory Monument to lay flowers and wreaths at the Eternal Flame.

Soldiers from the Guard of Honour Company carried the banners of three Belarusian and the First Baltic fronts that liberated the republic from the Nazi.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko joined the veterans. He participated in the celebrations with his sons and a granddaughter.

In his speech on the occasion of VE-Day, Lukashenko said, "Only a united and strong-willed people could win the fiercest war in the history of mankind, survive all hardships of post-war destruction, and rebuild fabrics and plans, cities and villages form ruins."

"To be the successors of the Great Victory is not only a big honour but also responsibility for the independence of the country, a cloudless and bright future of the posterity," the president said.

More than 1.2 million Belarusians fought in the war. Now 65,500 war veterans live in the country, including 49,100 who took part in combat operations. Twenty-four of them have the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11512385&PageNum=0