Press releases

27 Feb 2019

Partisan Chronicles: Special-mission fighters. Boyevoi special unit

MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) – On 21 February 1942 vehicles with 44 special-mission fighters hurried away from Moscow, closer to the frontline. A group of fighters and officers were heading deep into the enemy’s rear, to Belarus, to conduct subversive activities. However, at first the special unit of the USSR People's Commissariat for State Security (NKVD) had to cross the frontline on skis via the Vitebsk gate (Surazh gate).

“Partisan Chronicles: Special-mission fighters. Boyevoi special unit” is a new page of the joint project of BelTA and the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History. It is dedicated to members of the Boyevoi special unit of the USSR NKVD Anatoly Goryachev and Valentin Neklyudov.

The project is based on a unique collection of handwritten partisan journals provided by the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History. The collection was assigned the status of historical and cultural value of international importance (Class 1). Every week BelTA brings these chronicles to light and posts their digital copies. Each of them sheds light on various aspects of partisans’ life, gives a glimpse into thoughts and feelings of people who risked their lives to fight a battle behind enemy lines.

Till 3 July 2019 BelTA will publish digests of these chronicles and upload their digital versions complementing the unique content with photos from its own archives.