Monday, Jun. 24, 2002. Page 5
Nazi Invasion Remembered
The Associated Press
Sixty-one years after Nazi troops invaded the Soviet Union, President Vladimir Putin promised the country's veterans that their victory would forever be cherished. "Russia will remember the deeds of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War," Putin told veterans Friday, on the eve of the anniversary of the Nazi invasion. At 3:55 a.m. Saturday -- the moment German troops are said to have crossed into Soviet territory on June 22, 1941 -- veterans and others placed candles at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin. The pro-presidential youth group Walking Together held an all-night vigil at the tomb. Putin and a delegation of government leaders laid a wreath at the tomb Saturday morning to mark the anniversary. War memories remain strong in Russia, where losses reached 27 million people, touching almost every family. Putin pledged that the heroic acts of those who fought the Nazis will always be part of the nation's history. He hailed the work of veterans in rebuilding the devastated country after victory. "We are proud of the labor victories of those who restored Russia from ruins, those who strengthened our state," Putin told an audience of veterans. The annual commemorations include fewer and fewer people who participated in the war, but they continue to resonate with younger generations. The ROMIR polling agency found that 65 percent of Muscovites planned to mark the invasion anniversary by either visiting a cemetery, a World War II memorial or a museum connected to the war. Of the 500 people over the age of 18 interviewed by the agency, more than 90 percent said they had relatives who had participated in the war. About 26 percent said they had a relative who had participated in the war who was still living. | ||||
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