“The search movement of Russia is about 1428 search teams, more than 40 thousand search engines, 82 regional offices. We carry out prospecting work on the territory of 37 regions where battles were fought during the Great Patriotic War and World War II. We carry out work in the rear and front-line areas, where the hospital graves were located and have already been lost in our time, as well as where plane crashes occurred during the execution of a combat mission, ”said the head of the Russian Search Movement, Co-Chair of the Central Headquarters of the Immortal Regiment of Russia Elena Tsunaeva.
According to her, in the spring of this year, large-scale expeditions took place in the Leningrad and Novgorod regions, which were attended by about two thousand search engines. “In total, according to our calculations, more than seven thousand search engines worked in search expeditions, whose forces discovered the remains of 8,747 Soviet soldiers,” she clarified.
It is noted that the identities of some of them were identified, as well as relatives who expressed a desire to take the remains for burial were found. In particular, the remains of 59 Red Army soldiers returned to their homeland this year.
In addition, within the framework of the "Sky of the Motherland" project, which is engaged in establishing the fate of the crews of the dead aircraft, fragments of 47 combat vehicles were found, and the identities of 23 pilots were identified.
“Our work would have been impossible without international cooperation. Moreover, it did not interrupt, despite any economic and political cataclysms that shook our country. After all, the theme of the Great Patriotic War is a very family theme, ”Elena Tsunaeva emphasized.
This interaction is especially important, said the head of the PDR, within the framework of the "Fate of a Soldier" project, which helps to establish the fate of the Red Army soldiers who died on the war fronts. In particular, there is an active exchange of information with Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Belarus. “Despite the fact that relations with Ukraine are complicated, there is nevertheless interaction, too,” she said.
In turn, the deputy chairman of the board of the public association of Kazakhstan Atamnyn Amanaty Raigul Mushanova emphasized that it was Russia that became the very senior friend for the republic who helped to establish work in the search direction.
“In 2020, four natives of our republic were delivered from Russia to Kazakhstan. This inspired us even more to continue working. This year, on June 8, in the Hall of Memory and Grief of the Moscow Victory Museum, a solemn transfer of the remains of three of our fellow countrymen, who, according to the documents, were natives of the same village, took place, ”she said.
“Kyrgyzstan was a deep rear republic, but more than 365 thousand of its inhabitants went to the front. A third of them did not return. We are constantly receiving applications from citizens with a request to help find the place of death or burial of their relatives. International cooperation in search work is simply necessary for us in Kyrgyzstan ", - the head of the search group" Bizdin Zhenish - Our Victory "Tatyana Vladimirova supported her colleagues.
In addition, the participants in the press conference discussed the holding of a number of upcoming contests and creative contests. “The All-Russian competition of creative works“ Memory has been entrusted to us ”this year received international status thanks to the Presidential Grants Fund, which supported the initiative,” said Maria Igonina, a representative of the PDR.
She also stressed that the movement pays special attention to the development of school and student search teams. Today, according to the register, they unite more than eight thousand schoolchildren and one and a half thousand students.