Armenia to celebrate victory in Great Patriotic War at a high level - government

Commemoration events will be held throughout the year. On May 9, floral tribute will be paid to the Eternal Flame and the Tomb of Unknown Soldier at Yerevan’s Victory Park; the army soldiers will march in a parade and a concert will be held afterwards. A jubilee concert will be performed in the center of Yerevan, Republican Square, on the same day, followed by the festive fireworks letting off seventy shells. 

Apart from this, the delegation of the Armenian war veterans will head to Moscow to participate in the festivities. During this year, a scientific conference will be held, academic research papers will be published, and festive exhibitions will be held in Mayr Hayastan (Mother Armenia) museum and elsewhere in the country to remark the anniversary of the victory. Films about the Great Patriotic War will be demonstrated throughout the country. 

Meetings with war veterans will be arranged in military units and schools. Improvement works will be carried on the monuments and memorials dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. 

War veterans will receive, apart from medical insurance, holiday packages for sanatoriums and health resorts. Earlier, the Armenian government doubled the bonus payment to 50,000 drams (about $106) to some 1,100 to war veterans, who, are entitled also to remuneration and other payments. 

In the period from June 1941 to May 1945, over 500,000 Armenians were drafted to the Soviet Army, about 200,000 of them were killed in the battles. A hundred and six Armenians were awarded Hero of the Soviet Union, including legendary pilot Nelson Stepanyan and Marshall of the Soviet Union Hovhannes Baghramyan who received the award twice. Twenty-seven Armenian became full cavaliers of the Order of Glory. 

Armenians’ contribution in the victory included major army commanders, such as twice Hero of the Soviet Union marshall Hovhannes Baghramyan, Hero of the Soviet Union marshall of armored troops Hamazasp Babajanyan, aviation marshall Sergey Khudiakov (Armenak Khanferyants), Hero of the Soviet Union fleet admiral Ivan Isakov (Hovhannes Isahakyan). 

Armenia sent six motor-rifle divisions to the frontline, including the 39th Tamanyan division that reached Berlin. About 100,000 ethnic Armenians were involved in the resistance movement in WWII from the Armenian communities worldwide and fought as part of the allies’ armies. –0--