70th anniversary of the Great Victory

 BREST, 22 June (BelTA) – The reenactment of the start of the Great Patriotic War and the defense of the Brest Fortress gathered about 15,000 people on 22 June, BelTA has learned.

The reenactment started after a ceremony to mark Remembrance Day of Victims of the Great Patriotic War to become the biggest gathering over the recent years. The historical performance was produced by participants of the international festival 22 June 1941. Brest Fortress. This year’s festival increased the number of participants and expanded its geography. Partaking in it were about 600 re-enactors from more than 50 reenactment clubs of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, Germany, Poland and Japan.

According to one of the organizers of the festival, First Secretary of the BRSM Youth Union oblast committee Viktor Ivanov, the reenactment included all important episodes of the Brest Fortress defense: central fortification, the eastern Fort, the Western Island. Among the reenacted parts was the 9^th frontier post that defended the walls of the Terespol gate under the command of Lieutenant Andrei Kizhevatov. The audience saw the last battle of Mayor Gavrilov and Samvel Matevosyan in the counterattack. The re-enactors also showed the capture of women and children, and the shooting of civilians.

The reenactment included military hardware, namely legendary tanks T-38 temporary provided to the city by Vadim Zadorozhny’s museum of equipment, Russia's biggest private museum.

The first reenactment of the Brest Fortress defense was held in 2011. Back then there were re-enactors from Belarus and Russia. In the following years they were joined by re-enactors from other countries.

The festival was organized by the BRSM Youth Union under the auspices of the Brest Oblast and City Executive Committees, the Brest reenactment club Garrison, the Defense Ministry of Belarus. Assistance was also provided by the 38^th separate mobile brigade and the 111^th artillery brigade.