"On the twenty-second of June at exactly four o'clock Kiev was bombed, we were told that the war had begun." These folk lines sang people on the motif of the famous "Blue Shawl" in 1941. June 22, 1941 at 4 o’clock in the morning the Nazi troops invaded the territory of the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began, the most bloody in the history of the country.
By the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin of June 8, 1996, June 22 was recognized as the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow. On this day, it is customary to remember and honor not only the soldiers who fell for their homeland during the Great Patriotic War, but also the heroes of all wars that have ever fought for the freedom and independence of Russia. In addition to Russia, the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow is also celebrated in Belarus and Ukraine.
June 22 is one of the saddest dates for Russia. This day does not allow to forget about the millions of compatriots who fell on the battlefields, tortured to concentration camps, who died in the rear from starvation.
On this day in all cities of the Russian Federation are celebrations. First of all, this applies to hero cities that suffered during the war - St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Moscow, Smolensk, Sevastopol, Odessa, etc. The main events, as a rule, take place in places in any way connected with military battles. This, for example, the monument "Motherland" on the Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd, the wall of the Brest Fortress, on which are still scribbled messages of soldiers who shed blood for the defense of the Motherland.
Traditionally, on June 22, the laying of wreaths at the monuments and memorials erected in honor of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. On all public buildings, national flags are lowered.
Concerts are held at the venues of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian cities - songs and poems from the war years and those dedicated to the war are heard. Every year on June 22, like May 9, a solemn minute of silence passes. Cultural institutions, television channels and radio stations of the country on this day are not recommended to broadcast entertainment programs and advertisements.
However, people's grief and memory do not need any presidential decrees - this tragic bloody date cannot be forgotten even after several decades.
