BELGRADE, July 17. /TASS/. The Serbian authorities expect to unveil a World War II memorial during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belgrade in October, the Serbian Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy said.

"Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Zoran Dordevic discussed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belgrade, due this October, with Russia’s Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko. The minister announced plans to unveil the Eternal Flame monument in the Liberators of Belgrade Memorial Park during the Russian president’s visit," the ministry’s press service said in a statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Putin’s visit to Serbia is on the agenda, but its exact date is yet to be set via diplomatic channels.

On February 17, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu laid a stone into the future monument’s foundation. The monument, designed by Russian artist Andrei Tyrtyshnikov, is being built with support from the Russian Embassy in Serbia, the Belgrade Mayor’s Office, the Russian and Serbian defense ministries, the Serbian office of Russia’s Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), and businesses from the two states.

About 8,000 Soviet soldiers and officers perished during the liberation of Yugoslavia, including 4,350 Red Army servicemen who died liberating Belgrade.