Victory Day events were held at the Saur-Grave memorial complex in the DPR

Celebrations dedicated to the 81st anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet People in the Great Patriotic War (WWII) were held at the Saur-Grave memorial complex in the Shakhtersky district of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The corresponding footage is published by Izvestia on May 9.

Near the complex, activists of the Young Republic and the Young Guard of United Russia unfurled the largest Victory Banner in the world, measuring 65 by 35 m.

During the event, the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, awarded soldiers and servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with gold medals of the Hero of the DPR, and afterward a memorial service was held in the church. The event ended with a climb to the top of Saur Graves and the laying of flowers at the Eternal Flame.

This place was of key importance during the Second World War. The battles for Saur-Grave in 1943 were part of the Donbass strategic offensive operation of the Red Army. From this height, there was a wide view, and at the top was the central observation post of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. More than 20 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers gave their lives in the battles on the slopes of Kurgan.

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Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikaev and Andrey Fedyaev, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), congratulated Russian citizens on Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War on May 9. Mikaev noted that the victory in the Great Patriotic War is an example of the courage, perseverance and heroism that Soviet citizens showed to the whole world. According to him, thanks to the feat of Soviet soldiers, people can now dream and build a future.