The unveiling ceremony of the restored monument to Soviet soldiers took place in the Serbian town of Bochar (Novi Becei municipality), 135 km north of the capital, Belgrade. This was reported by TASS on October 4.
The opening of the monument was timed to celebrate the liberation of the city from the Nazis on October 4, 1944 and the 75th anniversary of the Victory in World War II. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Russian Embassy in Serbia, employees of the Russian Center for Science and Culture (RCSC) “Russian House” in Belgrade, representatives of JSC “Gazstroyprom”, residents.
The restored monument bears the names of two Red Army soldiers – Dmitry Ivanovich Avtushenko and Nikolai Konstantinovich Yampol.
The head of the municipality, Sasha Maksimovic, noted at the ceremony that Bochar and Novi Bechai were liberated thanks to the feat of Soviet soldiers and Serbian freedom fighters. “The greatest sin of mankind is oblivion, if we forget the horrors of World War II, they will repeat again, so we must always remember the feat of the liberators,” he said.
According to the Deputy Director of the Russian House Yevgeny Demin, “there is no such attitude to the memory of Soviet soldiers as in Serbia anywhere else in the world.” He stressed that Serbs and Russians fought together for freedom and now together keep the memory of this war.
The project to restore war memorials to the fallen Red Army soldiers on the territory of Serbia is taking place within the framework of the cultural and humanitarian Action of Peace and Accord, held in the anniversary year of the Great Victory at the initiative of the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Serbia.
Earlier, in June, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended a military parade in Moscow in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Vucic stressed the importance of preserving the historical truth about the Second World War and admitted that it was a great honor for him to be at the Victory Parade in Moscow. The parade was also attended by 75 members of the Serbian Guard.