PARIS, November 12. /TASS/. Public in Paris on Wednesday paid tribute to the Russian soldiers and officers who defended France during World War I.
A French brass band played Russian and French national anthem at a ceremony that was held by the monument to the soldiers of the Russian Expedition Corps, located in downtown Paris.
Military honors to the Russian defenders of France were paid by the guard of honor of the French Armed Forces.
Russian Ambassador to France, Alexander Orlov, said in his speech the two countries were linked by an allied relationship during World War I, the centenary anniversary since the outbreak of which is broadly marked this year.
“The Russian corps was dispatched to France to help an allied nation and many Russian men and officers died while defending the French soil,” he said.
The monument to Russian servicemen was opened on the right-hand bank of the Seine in 2011. It is located in the vicinity of a bridge named after the Russian Emperor Alexander III, whose reign was marked, among other things, by the signing of a Russo-French union accord.
In 2011, the opening of the monument was timed for President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Paris.