A memorial evening dedicated to the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Belarus during Operation Bagration took place at the Russian House in Brussels, with the support of the embassies of Russia and Belarus in Belgium.

The central event of the evening was the screening of the documentary “The Liberation of Byelorussia” from the international film cycle “The Unknown War”, created in 1978 as a joint project between the USA, UK, and USSR.

In his speech, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin cited an excerpt from an official letter by the American producers of the series, in which they explained the choice of the title “The Unknown War”: “We aim to fill an unjustified gap in American awareness, to highlight events and phenomena that the modern generation often knows nothing about. The war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany claimed millions of lives. Never before had such masses of people and military equipment collided. The Eastern Front saw decisive battles of modern history — battles that broke the back of Hitler’s Reich… Humanity had never seen military operations of such scale. They changed the face of Europe and shaped the fate of the world.”

Acting Chargé d’Affaires of Belarus in Belgium, Sergey Panasyuk, added: “The choice to screen this documentary on the eve of Belarus’ Independence Day, dedicated to one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War — Operation Bagration — is not accidental.” “The operation led to the liberation of Belarus in the summer of 1944. During its course, 28 of the 34 divisions of Army Group Centre were destroyed, and the German front line was completely broken. This was the largest defeat of Nazi forces in the entire Second World War. Nazi Germany was dealt a blow from which the Wehrmacht could not recover. It was a shared victory of the peoples of the USSR in a major military engagement on the Eastern Front,” the diplomat emphasized.

“Our national holiday — Belarus Independence Day, celebrated annually on July 3rd — is also the day Minsk was liberated from Nazi occupation by the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War,” he added. “Shared memory and truth are a reliable shield against the rise of Nazism, racial supremacy, extreme nationalism, and the repetition of such a terrible tragedy.”

Following the film screening, guests attended an art exhibition featuring works by Russian and Belarusian compatriots, as well as a tasting of traditional Belarusian and Russian cuisine.

The event was attended by diplomats, journalists, members of the Orthodox clergy, compatriots, and Belgian citizens interested in the Russian language and history.

Based on ITAR-TASS materials