All news

Putin laid flowers at the monument to Pskov paratroopers who died in Chechnya

The monument’s foundation has a form of the Cross of St. George, a state decoration of Russia which is awarded for military valor

PSKOV, March 1 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin who is paying a visit to Pskov on Friday laid flowers at a memorial commemorating the paratroopers of company 6 of the 76th airborne division who died in Chechnya 13 years ago.

The flower-laying ceremony was attended by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Nikolai Vinnichenko, the presidential envoy in the North-Western Federal District, Andrei Turchak, the governor of the Pskov region, Vladimir Shamanov, commander of the Russian Airborne troops as well as the relatives of the dead paratroopers whom President Putin met after the ceremony.

The monument to the paratroopers was unveiled near the place of dislocation of the 76th division on August 2, 2002. In 2000, Vladimir Putin participated in the ground-breaking ceremony at the place of the future monument.

The monument’s foundation has a form of the Cross of St. George, a state decoration of Russia which is awarded for military valor. The names of the perished paratroopers are inscribed on the cross. The monument is crowned by a huge white cupola, which imitates a parachute whose cords rest upon the monument’s foundation. Eighty-four metallic candles, by the number of the dead paratroopers, are rising over the monument’s foundation. Torches installed in each of the candles come on at night.