June 22 is the Day of Remembrance and Mourning: the history and traditions of the memorable date

Every year on June 22, one of the most tragic dates in the history of Russia is celebrated — the Day of Remembrance and Mourning, dedicated to the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In 2025, it falls on a Sunday. Izvestia tells us what the first hours of the invasion of nazi Germany on the territory of the USSR were like and how today they pay tribute to the defenders of the Motherland.

Memorial and Mourning Day on June 22: how the Great Patriotic War began

By June 1941, the inevitability of a military conflict between Germany and the USSR had become apparent. Despite the current non-aggression pact signed back in 1939, relations between the two countries were heating up. In the fall of 1940, the Wehrmacht began developing Operation Barbarossa, which involved the capture of the western part of the Soviet Union for subsequent settlement by the Germans. Even then, the German leadership firmly decided to exterminate the entire indigenous Slavic population of the country, and create a living space for Germany in the liberated territories.

The first reports of a possible German attack began to arrive on June 21. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union did not believe in the possibility of a full-scale war until recently. The head of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Joseph Stalin, together with the head of the General Staff of the Red Army, Georgy Zhukov, and the People's Commissar of Defense, Semyon Timoshenko, drafted Directive No. 1, according to which the military was instructed to occupy firing points along the border and put guns on alert, but not to succumb to enemy provocations. However, by the time the document reached its addressees, some military units were already repelling the fierce onslaught of the enemy.

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At dawn on June 22, 1941, at about 03:15 a.m., Nazi Germany launched massive strikes on the territory of the Soviet Union. Aviation and artillery bombarded airfields, train stations, naval bases and peaceful towns along the entire western border of the country. Kiev, Sevastopol, Brest, Grodno, Vilnius and other settlements in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic States were under fire.

It was not until 05:30 a.m. that the German ambassador to the USSR, Walter Schulenburg, handed over to the Soviet government an official note about the outbreak of war. Germany's allies soon joined the fighting: Italy, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Finland.

The first wave of the Fascist offensive proved to be a severe test for the USSR. The Red Army suffered serious losses, several hundred aircraft and heavy equipment were destroyed. But even in the face of a formidable and seemingly invincible enemy, Soviet soldiers showed unprecedented courage. The exploits of the defenders of the Brest Fortress and the Hanko base, who did not give up their positions to the last drop of blood, are forever inscribed in history.

Despite the fact that the life of the country has already split into "before" and "after", most of the population did not immediately find out about the outbreak of the war. On the morning of June 22, children were still walking carelessly in cities and towns, adults were hurrying about their business, shops, museums, cinemas and concert halls were open. Graduates who had recently celebrated their farewell to school were preparing university applications and making plans for the future, unaware that they were not destined to come true.

At 12:15 p.m., Vyacheslav Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, addressed Soviet citizens on the radio, announcing the outbreak of war. In his speech, he called the German attack "treachery unprecedented in the history of civilized nations" and called on the people to unite in the face of danger. The speech ended with the famous phrase: "Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours." Back then, no one could have imagined that Victory would come only after 1,418 long and terrible days.

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The Great Patriotic War claimed the lives of about 27 million Soviet citizens. Among them are not only military personnel, but also ordinary people who were killed by the Nazis in the occupied territories, tortured in concentration camps and in captivity, who died during the bombing, who did not survive hunger and disease. 40% of all human losses of the Second World War occurred in the Soviet Union.

Until the early 1990s, in the USSR, and then in Russia, they celebrated only Victory Day, bypassing the date of the outbreak of war. In 1992, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation decided to celebrate June 22 as the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of the Fatherland. In 1996, Boris Yeltsin, the then head of state, changed the name of the celebration to the Day of Remembrance and Mourning. And in 2007, the current President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, officially included it in the list of memorable dates of the country.

Traditions and events of the Day of Remembrance and Mourning in 2025

On the Day of Remembrance and Mourning, mourning events are held in Russia. The state and St. Andrew's flags are lowered at half-mast, entertainment programs and concerts are canceled. An all-Russian minute of silence is announced at 12:15 Moscow time. It has been held since 2020 in all regions of the country.

One of the traditional actions of the Day of Remembrance and Mourning is "Memory Watch. Eternal flame." It takes place at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. At exactly four in the morning, veterans and residents of the city lay flowers at the memorial, paying tribute to the war heroes.

Since 2009, the Candle of Memory campaign has also been held in many Russian cities, in which participants of patriotic youth organizations light candles next to memorials of the Great Patriotic War. The Memorial Line campaign will be held in the capital on the Crimean embankment of Muzeon Park. Its participants will light 1,418 candles, one for each day of the war.

Earlier, Izvestia shared funeral postcards for the Day of Remembrance and Mourning.