Tiraspol, 19 June. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Pridnestrovie is marking a tragic anniversary — 25 years ago Moldova committed aggression against the city of Bendery. On 19 June 1992 armed troops of Moldovan fascists burst into the peaceful city. In leas than a month and a half of war the country lost 529 people, including 66 Tiraspol inhabitants.
Every year on this day a rally is held at the capital's Glory Memorial. A minute's silence was held in memory of all those who perished in defending their homeland, after which flowers were laid at the tombs of the fallen. The president, parliament speaker, city leadership, members of NGOs, surviving comrades and loved ones have all come today to pay tribute to their memory.
«The very fact that we are standing here is the merit of my comrades, mine and many other people. We were all volunteers. What was our mood? To win. It was only several years when I had come back from Afghanistan, and when I saw refugees coming from the opposite bank, I had a strange feeling, like a lump in the throat — women, children, cries, shouts, shooting… And then we recharged and decided everything. We drove the invaders away," Sergey Demidkov recalls.
«We were defending Dubossray back then. I was in the 1st Tank Company, and the 2nd Company was to replace us, but those events occurred and many guys got into this slaughter in Bendery. I remember this patriotic spirit of ours — not a single inch of our land! I feel sorry for the guys who were killed; it is very difficult to recall it, but they didn't die in vain," said Viktor Panasyuk.
Among those who helped Bendery to resist the aggressors were Cossacks, people's militia, rescue unit fighters and the Delta squad, as well as all who could not stand aside. Storozhuk Kristina, a member of Tiraspol's organisation Women's Union in Defence of Pridnestrovie, comes to the memorials in Tiraspol and Bendery every year. She still cannot remember calmly the events that took place 25 years ago.
«It is very hard to remember that Friday: I was in the Tiraspol hospital when I learnt that Bendery was being shelled and there were severely wounded people, and I offered my assistance. The wounded were taken from Parkany and Bendery. Especially many were taken on the night of 22 and 23 of June. No one had expected there would be so many. We unloaded and sorted them at night — some directly to the surgical table and some to the morgue. I'll never forget a woman with a girl sitting near the IC unit late at night. I came up to them and asked, 'Why don't you go home?' And she answered, 'My son is in the ICU.' I late found out he had had a bullet in the mouth, but his heart was strong and he was dying for two weeks," the former nurse said.
Such stories are heard all over the country today. During official rallies and meetings with schoolchildren, near graves in cemeteries and at homes where those who will never come back are remembered…
