The delegation of Ugra presented in Armenia the project “Deeds of Ugra Citizens”

In April 2024 the delegation of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Ugra visited Yerevan (Republic of Armenia) at the invitation of Vahan Sahakyan, a Russian scholar, national diplomat, and winner of the Pushkin contest. The trip took place in the course of the realization of the project “Feats of the Ugra people,” the purpose of which is to preserve the people's memory of the feats of veterans in the Great Patriotic War and to strengthen diplomatic relations.

Representatives of the Autonomous Okrug presented a series of documentaries about the Great Patriotic War at the Russian House: #Pobedaodnanavshee, “The 368th Division,” “The Story of One Love,” “The People's War,” “Putilov's Feat” and “By Order of Conscience.” The pictures are about the exploits of Ugra residents during the Great Patriotic War, the story of the life and heroic death of Matvey Putilov, the evacuation of orphanages from besieged Leningrad, and the life of orphans in Ugra in wartime, frontline love and separation, about how people defeated the enemy at the cost of their lives.

“Feats of the Ugra people” is realized under the aegis of the international project “North for Victory. Everyone for the cause of peace” by the Archives Service of the Autonomous Okrug, the Youth Parliament at the Duma of Ugra and Khanty-Mansiysk film company “4K.” The films were made with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and the Russian oil company LUKOIL. Rinat Khalilullin, an honored cultural worker of Ugra, and film academician, became the main director. One of the works “Victory One for All” was honored with the TEFI National Television Award.

According to Yulia Druzhinina, head of the Autonomous Okrug Archives Service, the project was launched in 2020. Shortly, it is a screen adaptation of the deeds in the short format using documentary newsreels, facts from the lives of the heroes, and archival documents stored in the Ugra archives.

“During the implementation of the project, more than 2 million people watched the films on social networks, also the films were broadcast on the air of municipal and regional TV channels of the autonomous district. Public activists and members of the youth parliament use the films for screenings in educational institutions and at open screenings in cultural institutions during meetings with young people,” Head of the Archives Service of the Autonomous Okrug shared the information.

In the House of Russian Book in Yerevan, the children were shown the movie “Putilov's Feat.” During the creative meeting, the audience was told how the shooting of this movie in Langepas went. “This movie was filmed last year. The main character of the picture, 19-year-old sergeant Matvey Putilov, in October 1942 heroically died during the Battle of Stalingrad. At the cost of his own life, he restored communication at an important battle site by clamping the wires with his teeth,” Rinat Khalilullin shared. In the House of Veterans, the delegation outlined prospects for the realization of future projects. Moscow Business Center and Russian-Armenian University agreed to create a joint film project with the autonomous district.

Nikolay Zabolotnev, Deputy of the Duma of the Autonomous Okrug, noted that the victory in the Great Patriotic War was achieved thanks to the efforts of the multinational country, and the main character of the next movie of the project will be Georgy Simonyan, a native of Armenia who became a Ugra citizen. Documents about him were found in the Pokachi archive of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Ugra. They say that Georgy was born in Noragavit. In 1942 he went to the front. He walked 200 kilometers to Tomsk, and from there he was sent to a tank brigade to Leningrad, where he took part in the liberation of the city from the blockade. Georgy Levonovich lived a long and bright life; he passed away in June 2004 in Pokachi.

The events of the project “North for Victory. Everyone for the Cause of Peace” have been held since 2020 with the support of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rossotrudnichestvo. Political analysts noted the importance of the visit in establishing interstate relations between Russia and Armenia. According to Dmitry Zhuravlev, scientific director of the Institute of Regional Problems, “Culture is a strong weapon in diplomacy: see a picture, watch a movie. Especially if it is related to history, but it is not tied to today's politics.”

The importance of such a significant cultural visit was noted by Kirill Medvedev, Chairman of the Youth Parliament under the Duma of the Autonomous Okrug, “We held several meetings in Armenia, got acquainted with the Chairman of the Russian-Armenian Youth Union, established contacts with many public organizations. We had meetings in the Russian House, with compatriots. I am convinced of the main thing: there are different views in Armenia, but there are also many people who are united with our country, with our people by the common past. Such projects are very important in today's difficult times. I saw that there are people in Armenia who are engaged in patriotic projects and they are ready to build cooperation with Russia, to implement projects together with our country.”

During the visit, the delegation of the autonomous district held more than 10 meetings with representatives of public organizations of Armenia, sightseeing programs. “Business meetings were organized with the heads and representatives of the House of Russian Book, the House of Moscow, the Russian House. We communicated with like-minded people in the Veterans Association, Aregnazan Educational Center. We visited the Russian-Armenian University, the Russian-Armenian Youth Union. Result such as the agreements on the realization of two international projects, new friends were achieved. I am grateful to all the representatives of the delegation for the exchange of experience and willingness to build bridges of international cooperation. Despite the difficult political situation, we must do everything possible so that it does not affect the relations between people and our nations, that's what people's diplomacy is for,” People's Diplomat Vahan Sahakyan shared his impressions of the visit.