MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Some of the Russian regions won’t be able to hold Immortal Regiment marches in-person this year because the main thing is to ensure the safety of the event’s participants, Co-Chairman of the Central Headquarters of Russia’s Immortal Regiment Public Movement Sergey Makarov said at a press conference on Thursday.
He noted that over 120 countries had approved the organizers’ applications to hold marches. However, in Makarov’s words, some countries moved to ban the event.
He specified that the United States had prohibited an Immortal Regiment march and a flower-laying ceremony at the Spirit of the Elbe memorial, while the Irish authorities had revoked permission to hold the march this year. Makarov noted that the German authorities had not yet banned the march officially but were considering the possibility of an alternate event. The march organizers in Russia earlier recommended that the families and friends of participants in the Great Patriotic War residing in countries where marches cannot be held due to bans should take part in Russia’s online march.
Makarov emphasized that an Immortal Regiment march in the city of Mariupol would take place only if it’s possible to ensure the safety of its participants and it’s up to local authorities to make decisions on the matter. He stressed that there were a lot of volunteers and patriots in Ukrainian cities who were willing to preserve the memories of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Mariupol Deputy Mayor Viktoria Kalacheva earlier announced plans to hold an Immortal Regiment march in the city.
The Immortal Regiment march is an annual public event that has been held in Russia on Victory Day on May 9 since 2012, when the first event took place in the city of Tomsk. According to the Immortal Regiment movement, the 2019 march involved over ten mln people in 3,700 cities and towns across Russia. The event moved online in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.