The Great Victory unites millions of people of Europe and Asia. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin made the statement during the ceremony to lay wreaths at the Victory Monument in Minsk on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the Great Victory, BelTA has learned.

During the ceremony upon the head of state’s instruction Viktor Khrenin presented the stance of the people in uniform on the significance of the Great Victory and described the military and political situation around Belarus.

The defense minister said: “Today is the day of the Great Victory of the great Soviet nation. Every year we come to this sacred place, to the majestic monument crowned with an Order of the Victory. This symbol of historical memory towers above the hero city of Minsk and reminds us of the heroic deed that is unmatched in the history of mankind. The heroic deed unites millions of people of Europe and Asia today – all those, who have retained the gene of courage and bravery of the ancestors.”

The official underlined that Belarusians are proud of every Belarusian warrior – from common soldiers to generals, who stood together with brotherly nations to endure the assault of Nazi Germany and destroyed the army that had been mobilized by the entire Western Europe and had been armed to the teeth thanks to money of world moguls.

Viktor Khrenin went on saying: “We are proud of our partisans, underground resistance fighters and scouts, who brought the victory closer while operating behind enemy lines without the fear of hanging and torture and without sparing their lives. We are proud of the mothers, who saw their husbands and sons leave for the front. Under the pain of death they baked bread for partisans, hid Jews and injured soldiers of the Red Army and covered babies from bullets and bombs with their bodies. Our heart still burns with the fire of Khatyn and hundreds of Belarusian villages, which were burned together with helpless elderly, women, and children. We bow before the memory of our brothers from all parts of the Soviet Union, who liberated Belarus and stayed forever lying in our land.”

A minute of silence was held during the ceremony as a token of remembrance of all the fallen and all the witnesses of dreadful Nazi crimes, who did not live to see the Victory.