Press releases

MINSK, 3 April (BelTA) – Representatives of public organizations lay flowers and light candles at the Russian embassy in Belarus to commemorate the victims of Saint Petersburg metro explosion, BelTA has learned.

Among the first people to pay tribute to the victims were representatives of the Belaya Rus public association. According to the deputy head of the association Alexander Shatko, the terrorist attack is a tragedy for everyone. “Many innocent people have suffered. This is our common grief. We mourn together with all the Russian people,” Alexander Shatko said.

Representatives of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus brought banners that read “No to terror”, “Belarusian trade unions mourn together with Russians!” Deputy Chairman of the federation Alexander Miksha told reporters: “We share this grief with Russians. It is clear that today terrorism is the world’s enemy number one. It goes without saying that there should not be any mercy shown to the terrorists and their supporters. This is the only way we can destroy this evil.”

Active members of the Belarusian national youth union BRSM and the pioneer association also came to the embassy to pay tribute to the victims. Viktoria Mennanova, Secretary of the BRSM Central Committee, Chairperson of the BRSM Central Council remarked: “Young people of Belarus express their sincere condolences to friends and families of those who were wounded and killed, to our fraternal nation, to the Russian youth. We should not only rejoice but mourn together and help each other.” Belarus suffered a similar tragedy in 2011, Viktoria Mennanova reminded. “We want to live peacefully, travel and stay safe anywhere in the world. And we should not tolerate such accidents. This is why we implore to appreciate together the peace that heads of our states maintain. We implore people not to stay indifferent to anyone’s grief,” Viktoria Mennanova said.

BRSM active member, member of the Youth Chamber under the Minsk City Council of Deputies Mikhail Degtyarenko believes that the terrorist attack in Saint Petersburg is a common sorrow shared by the fraternal people of Belarus and Russia. He is sure that the two nations can endure it only together.

Deputy Chairperson of the Belarusian Women's Union Nadezhda Yermakova also laid flowers at the Russian embassy in Belarus. She told reporters that she had learned about the accident by telephone: “My first thought was that it cannot be true, it should not be this way. How can one dare kill civilians? This should not happen again,” Nadezhda Yermakova said.

“Every time I ask myself why people do this. It is one thing when you protect your country during a war and see an enemy. And another thing is when it is done under the radar and innocent people suffer. It is very hard to comment on,” Chairperson of the Committee on Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Minsk City Executive Committee Zhanna Romanovich remarked. She also said that she could not help but come to the embassy and pay tribute to the families of each victim of the terrorist attack in the Saint Petersburg metro.