Russia has launched a Memorial Fire campaign in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Victory

A Memorial to the soldiers of the People's Militia in the village of Shchekutino near Moscow lit a Memorial Flame from the particles of the Eternal Flame of the country's hero cities. This was told in the press service of the "Savings Bank", which organized the action.

The Flame of Memory was lit from particles of the flame of Eternal Flame brought from nine hero cities — Sevastopol, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Volgograd, Murmansk, St. Petersburg, Tula, Smolensk and Moscow. In the capital, a particle of flame was taken from the Eternal Flame on Poklonnaya Gora. Ceremonies were held in all cities with the participation of veterans and home front workers, during which the flame was transferred to special capsules for further transportation.

Then the flame particles in the bank's collection vehicles were delivered to the memorial of the 4th Division of the People's Militia of the Kuibyshev district of Moscow. Torches with fire particles from each city were carried by active servicemen of the 202 Zenith missile brigade and students of Pushkin School No. 1500.

"This is how Sber helped unite the memory of the war heroes and paid tribute to the feat of the financial sector employees who contributed to the Victory," the bank's press service noted.

According to Stanislav Kuznetsov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sber, the bank has been taking care of the memorial in Shchekutino for 10 years. "Every year we come to this monument to worship the heroes of the 4th Division of the People's Militia, who defended Moscow in 1941. Today, for the first time, we held an all-Russian action here to once again remember and honor the feat of the 4th Division," said Kuznetsov.

The 4th division of the People's Militia of the Kuibyshev district of Moscow began to be formed on July 2, 1941 from employees of the USSR People's Commissariat of Finance (its department included State Labor Savings Banks, the receiver of which is Sberbank). Accountants, economists, and cashiers joined the ranks of the division. Employees of Savings banks fought on the outskirts of Moscow, and in the rear they collected money for the front, organized military loans, and transferred benefits to the families of soldiers.