On February 15, the Republic of Belarus celebrates a memorable date – the Day of Remembrance of Internationalist Soldiers. The country hosts solemn, mourning and patriotic events dedicated to this date.
Internationalist soldiers working in subordinate organizations of the department took part in the memorial ceremony on the Island of Courage and Sorrow in Minsk, headed by Deputy Administrator of the President of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Rogashchuk.
В настоящее время в организациях Управления делами Президента трудится более 113 воинов-интернационалистов.
Традиционно 15 февраля ветераны-афганцы собираются вместе, чтобы вспомнить свою нелегкую службу, сослуживцев-однополчан, помянуть боевых товарищей, не вернувшихся с поля боя. Этот день свят для тех, кто воевал в Афганистане и членов семей погибших.
В трудовых коллективах организаций Управления делами Президента Республики Беларусь в эти дни проходят памятные мероприятия, участникам афганской войны оказывается материальная помощь, вручаются подарки, организовывается участие в общественных митингах.
Currently, more than 113 internationalist soldiers work in the organizations of the Presidential Administration.
Traditionally, on February 15, Afghan veterans gather together to remember their difficult service, their fellow soldiers, and their comrades who did not return from the battlefield. This day is sacred for those who fought in Afghanistan and members of the families of those killed. In the labor collectives of the organizations of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus, commemorative events are held these days, participants in the Afghan war are provided with material assistance, In the labor collectives of the organizations of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus, commemorative events are held these days, participants in the Afghan war are provided with material assistance, gifts are presented, and participation in public rallies is organized.
The withdrawal of military personnel of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces (LCSV) from Afghanistan ended 35 years ago – on February 15, 1989. According to some modern political scientists, this was the first major anti-terrorist war in modern history.
On February 15, 1989, the last Soviet soldier crossed the bridge of the border river Amu Darya near Termez – the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was completed. The war in Afghanistan lasted 9 years 1 month and 18 days.
More than 14 thousand Soviet soldiers died on foreign soil, 6 thousand subsequently died from wounds and illnesses, 311 people went missing. These were the largest losses of the Soviet Army since the Great Patriotic War.
Time moves us away from those events. The mighty power whose interests were defended in distant Afghanistan by thousands of Belarusians is gone. However, the memory of the war still resonates with pain in the hearts of mothers, fathers, widows, and children of those guys who returned home with the “cargo-200”.
About 30 thousand natives of Belarus served in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. Of these, 771 people died, 12 people are listed as missing, more than one and a half thousand were injured and maimed, 718 became disabled. Today, in Minsk alone there live more than four thousand veterans of the war in Afghanistan, of which more than 200 are disabled, as well as 97 families – parents and widows of fallen internationalist soldiers. For them, as for us, this is Remembrance Day.
