To start official celebrations at the place where Pridnestrovie's defenders are buried is a long tradition for the capital residents — but for them the republic is unlikely to have succeeded. Over 800 Pridnestrovians laid down their lives and more than 1,500 were wounded 23 years ago. Their sacrifice makes it possible for us to celebrate every year the anniversary of our statehood.
«On this holiday we remember with bitterness our compatriots, the patriots who fought for the republic and died when defending their homes and towns. Every death is a tragedy, but there are families that lost several members during this war. Today, the widows and mothers of fallen heroes are present here. It is hard to imagine what they had to go through," said the president, Yevgeny Shevchuk.
Tamara Ivanovna Belous (awarded today a 25 Years to the PMR medal) is one of them. She lost her two most loved ones: in March 1992 her son was killed and three months later her husband. «My son, Igor Vasilyevich Belous, served in the guards, and my husband was a volunteer. Every year we, along with the Pamyat [Memory] Union, get together to remember them and other fallen defenders. I hope everything will come right for us, and they didn't die in vain after all… The most important is that peace and order settle here, that nobody shoot, that nobody die," she said in an interview to our agency.
Peace was established on the Dniester banks thanks to the assistance of the Russian army, and this is what Pridnestrovie will never forget. «We remember and honour this, and are thanking Russian soldiers and the Great Russia. Today, Pridnestrovie is in a difficult situation, but we are a peace-loving nation, we know what peace means and value it," underscored the president.
In tribute to the memory of all who died in 1990−92 and those who later died from wounds a minute of silence was observed. Bunches of flowers were laid to the tombs. Wreaths were laid by Yevgeny Shevchuk, chairwoman and members of the government, Supreme Council chairman and deputies, Russia's Federal Assembly deputies, relatives and friends of the defenders of Pridnestrovie, members of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorny Karabach delegations, as well as representatives of Russia's OGRF and the Joint Peacekeeping Forces. Following the wreath-laying ceremony, the national flag of the PMR was hoisted.
