Tiraspol, 9 May. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. A ceremony of raising the Banner of Victory has given a start to the celebration of the 73rd anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. It was attended by President Vadim Krasnoselsky, heads of the government and the parliament Alexander Martynov and Alexandr Scherba, First President Igor Smirnov, heads and representatives of governmental bodies, the command of the Operative Group of Russian Forces and Russia's peacekeeping contingent, members of foreign delegations and the clergy of the Tiraspol-Dubossary diocese, the president's press service reports.
A replica of the Red Banner of Victory - a battle flag of the Idritsa Rifle Division which was raised at the top of Berlin's Reichstag by Red Army soldiers Alexey Berest, Mikhail Yegorov and MelitonKantaria on 1 May 1945 - was brought to Tiraspol on 9 May 2014. This year the honour to hoist the Banner of Victory to the sound of the Soviet anthem has been granted to Great Patriotic War veteran Mikhail Kislitsky and Air Force veteran Vladimir Lebedev.
