#YourFeatIsImmortal
🕯December 3 marks the #DayOfTheUnknownSoldier in Russia, honouring the feat of all soldiers who perished for the Motherland, yet whose names remain unknown.
#OTD in 1966, to mark the 25th anniversary of defeating Nazi invaders near Moscow, a ceremony of the burial of an unknown soldiers' remains was held in the Alexander Garden near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. Those remains were originally located in a mass grave on the 41st kilometre of the Leningrad Highway — exactly the place that saw the fierce fighting between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht troops during the Battle of Moscow in November−December 1941.
On December 3, 1966, at a mourning ceremony, the Unknown Soldier’s coffin was mounted on an armoured personnel vehicle with a red banner, which proceeded through Gorky Street (now Tverskaya Street) to the Alexander Garden under the sound of the military march.
In the Alexander Garden, the Unknown Soldier was met by members of the USSR leadership, as well as the legendary Marshals of the Soviet Union — Georgy Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovsky.
On May 8, 1967, ahead of #VictoryDay, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled as a memorial architectural ensemble. Soviet newspapers reported back then: “He perished for his Motherland and for his home city of Moscow. That is all we know about him.”
The granite tombstone bears the famous inscription: “Your name is unknown. Your feat is immortal.”
The Eternal Flame was lit up near the Memorial.
💬 Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky:
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the walls of the Moscow Kremlin will immortalise the glorious heroes who perished on battlefields for their Motherland.
Now, the ashes of one of those who shielded Moscow from the enemy, are buried here.
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In total, approximately two million Soviet and Russian citizens were reported missing in action during the wars and conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Russian Ministry of Defence carries out on a regular basis search operations to perpetuate the memory of heroes who perished for the Motherland.
Russian diplomats abroad are engaged in extensive efforts aimed at preserving historical memory, countering attempts to distort the history of #WWII and to question the Great Victory of the Soviet people. Thanks to their efforts, Soviet-Russian military monuments and mass graves are maintained and restored in foreign countries.
❗️ Regrettably, as part of a disgraceful campaign to distort history of #WWII, a policy of state vandalism is being pursued in certain countries of Eastern Europe, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in particular, with the one aim — to eradicate Russia's memorial heritage — the monuments to Soviet Heroes and Liberators. With the consent of the official authorities there, vandals desecrate mass graves, the remains of perished soldiers are being barbarically exhumed for further “reburial” in designated places.
Thanks to joint efforts, including by our compatriots living abroad and concerned Europeans who are not indifferent to our common memory, the records of the monuments and graves, data and images, are uploaded to the special web-portal 'Mesto Pamyati' (A Place for Memory).
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🎖 On November 4, 2014, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law on Amendments to the Federal Law 'On Days of Military Glory and Memorial Dates of Russia', to mark December 3 as the Day of the Unknown Soldier.