The Swallow, decorated for the 80th anniversary of the Victory, set off on its first flight to Minsk

The Lastochka Moscow— Minsk international high-speed electric train, designed specifically for the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory in the Great Patriotic War (WWII), has embarked on its maiden voyage. Footage of the train on April 22 is published by Izvestia.

The train was launched as part of the cultural and educational project "From Moscow to Brest by Victory Roads".

According to Oleg Belozerov, CEO of Russian Railways, the wagons are arranged in a certain order, the first of which characterizes the beginning of the war.

"The symbol of the beginning of the war for us is the steadfastness of the Brest Fortress. Marshal [Georgy] Zhukov said that there would have been no victory in WWII without the heroic feat of the railroad workers. Every Russian railway worker honors our predecessors, they gave us this railway system, but there is much more information here. I am absolutely sure that it will be very interesting for everyone, both Belarusians and our Russians," Belozerov stressed.

Passenger Pavel Savich called the project wonderful and stressed that we should not forget about the war years. He expressed a desire to see more similar projects that would remind us of the holiday, which "our parents instilled in us from childhood."

Memory of Victory: how the grandfathers and fathers of famous Russians fought

The heroes of the Great Patriotic War were able to raise new winners

Earlier that day, it was reported that the "Victory Train" of the Russian Defense Ministry arrived in the city of Orel as part of the action "Unity in Memory. Strength in a feat!". The train consists of eight wagons with thematic expositions dedicated to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the continuity of generations and the feat of heroes defending the Fatherland.

May 9, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. In January 1945, the Soviet army launched an offensive against Berlin. As a result of the fighting, at 00:43 Moscow time on May 9, the commanders-in-chief signed the act of unconditional surrender of Germany, which served as the end of the Second World War.