1050th anniversary of Vitebsk: solemn events dedicated to City Day kicked off on Victory Square

To cherish the memory of grandfathers and great-grandfathers who gave us freedom, and to make a feasible contribution to the development of our native city and region. This is what Vitebsk residents were called upon to do by the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Subbotin, opening a series of events dedicated to City Day.

The celebration of a significant date for the regional center began on Victory Square. There, the leadership of the region and the city, representatives of labor collectives and the public, and youth laid flowers and wreaths at the memorial complex in honor of the Soviet soldiers-liberators, partisans and underground fighters of the Vitebsk region, and held a rally.

— We have launched the solemn events dedicated to the 1050th anniversary of the northern capital and the 80th anniversary of its liberation from the Nazi invaders. On June 26, 1944, the terrible years of occupation ended for Vitebsk: soldiers of the 39th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front and the 43rd Army of the 1st Baltic Front entered the city. The liberators were met by only 118 surviving Vitebsk residents, and about 7% of the housing stock survived, — emphasized Alexander Subbotin. — The regional center managed to rise from the ashes in the shortest possible time. Today, it is a major industrial center with highly developed industry, science, and culture. The transformation became possible thanks to the strenuous work of many generations of our countrymen and the effective work of the real sector of the economy. Today's Vitebsk residents are successors to the glorious traditions of their ancestors, who also strive to make a feasible contribution to the development of the national economy and make their small homeland more beautiful. We constantly prove that together we are capable of much, we have huge reserves.

"Vitebskiye Vesti"