Russia celebrates 70th anniversary of historic victory at Stalingrad

On January 31, the heroic city of Volgograd in southwestern Russia began activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the historic victory of the Soviet army and people at Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).

The opening event of the activity was a performance of wartime songs, to which 320 veterans of the Battle of Stalingrad, rear-line personnel and members of the organization "Stalingrad Children" were invited.

(Source: en.wikipedia.org)

According to tradition, on this occasion, members of the war-history club will reenact the scene of "capturing alive" Field Marshal Paulius, the top general of the Nazi German army and Hitler's staff 70 years ago (January 31, 1943).

In addition, the International Memorial Flower Fair, called "Flowers for the Heroes of Victory", was also held in Volgograd with the main theme of creating memorial flowers and flowers for veterans. The international flower fair, held for the first time in the city on the Volga River, attracted many famous flower artists from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and 10 other regions of Russia.

On the same day, Volgograd also began activities within the framework of the first interregional Youth Volunteer Footprints forum, with the participation of volunteers from 27 regions of Russia.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted 200 days and nights (from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943), and was considered the longest and most arduous battle of World War II. Nearly 1,200,000 Soviet soldiers died to prevent the enemy from advancing to the Volga River. The fiercest battle was the "fight for every inch of land" to protect the 102m high hill, called Mamaev Hill in Stalingrad, which lasted 135 days and nights.

During the harsh winter days of late 1942, the Soviet Red Army held firm and resiliently on the west bank of the Volga River, gradually gaining the advantage, moving from defense to counterattack. By early February 1943, the resistance of the fascist army was completely crushed, and the 6th Army with 330,000 fascist troops was completely destroyed on February 2, 1943. During the battle at Stalingrad, about 1.5 million German soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

The victory at Stalingrad has gone down in the history of the former Soviet Union and all of humanity, and is considered an important turning point that fundamentally changed the situation of World War II. After February 1943, the Soviet Red Army began to counterattack on all fronts, leading to the victory on May 9, 1945, defeating the fascist army./.

According to VNA - DT