SUKHUM, May 9 (Itar-Tass) —— Abkhazia’s President Alexander Ankvab congratulated veterans of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) on the 67th anniversary of the Victory.
“May 9 is the anniversary of the one of the greatest victories of the humankind, the victory of Nazism. It is also one of the most sorrowful but a soul-stirring and joyous holiday, which dear to each citizen of our country,” he said on Wednesday.
The victory was won at the cost of millions of mutilated and lost lives, he said.
“This day is the symbol of heroism and unprecedented courage. More than 55,000 young men and women from Abkhazia went to the war with the foe. As many as 15,500 our compatriots died defending our freedom,” Ankvab stressed. He also said that whatever small, Abkhazia is the homeland of twenty two Heroes of the Soviet Union, three holders of the Order of Glory, and more than 30,000 holder of other combat awards. “There awards are the gratitude for their unbending courage, fortitude and furious resistance to the enemy, for their heroic defence of our common Motherland,” he said.
“Only you know the price of the Victory. After the decades this heroic dead has become an example for our children and grandchildren, when Georgian aggressors intruded our land. They sacrificed themselves to defend our people and our country from a holocaust as you did. They followed your heroism,” the Abkhazian president said in a congratulatory message. He expressed sincere gratitude to veterans “for the life they have presented, for children and grandchildren, for a free present and free future,” and wished them health and many years of life.
Flowers and wreaths will be laid on Wednesday to monuments to soldiers fallen in WWII throughout the country.
Currently, there are 200 WWII veterans living in Abkhazia.