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Russia's Far East city commemorates Day of Grief

Xinhua, June 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

People in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok held a parade on Monday to commemorate the 74th anniversary when the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany during World War II began in 1941.

Around 2,000 people participated the parade to honor the fallen soldiers, holding lighted candles and laying flowers to the Eternal Flame.

"Today, we are gathered here to honor the memory of fallen soldiers, our fathers, brothers and sisters, and all the citizens of the former USSR. (The title of the) City of Military Glory was bestowed upon Vladivostok for its courage and heroism during the Second World War," Semen Pletus, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, told Xinhua.

June 22 is a Day of Grief in Russia, as on that day in 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union at dawn. On the very first day of war, German invaders destroyed 1,200 Soviet planes, tanks and cannons and killed thousands of people.

In 2007, a law on "the days of military fame and memorial days in Russian Federation" was signed, designating June 22 as a new memorial day marking the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Endi