Press releases

Capsule with soil from Norway’s Soviet war cemetery handed over to Belarus

An archive photo

MINSK, 22 June (BelTA)  - On the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War, Belarusian Ambassador to Sweden and concurrently to Norway Dmitry Mironchik took part in a solemn ceremony held at the memorial in the international war cemetery on the Norwegian island of Tjotta, BelTA learned from the Belarusian diplomatic mission.

In the presence of representatives of the local administration and the public, Vice Mayor of the Alstahaug Commune Hanne Wiig gave Dmitry Mironchik a capsule with the soil collected from this Norway's largest mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died in German captivity and those who died as the Red Army liberated northern Norway.

The Ambassador welcomed the efforts of the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs to clarify the names and supplement the lists of foreign nationals buried in Norway during World War II. The head of the Belarusian diplomatic mission expressed gratitude to the commune of Alstahaug for the careful upkeep of the Soviet war cemetery where about 10,400 people were buried. As part of the commemorative campaign “To the Glory of the Common Victory!” the capsule with the soil from Norway will be placed in the crypt of All Saints Church in Minsk in a ceremony on Belarus’ Independence Day on 3 July, the Ambassador informed.

print version

make home page

add to bookmarks