MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. A web portal titled "In Memory of the Heroes from the Great War of 1914-1918" dedicated to 2.5 million Russian servicemen has been opened to users.

Visitors to the website will be able to uncover information on their relatives who fought on the frontlines of WWI, find out what battles they took part in or where they were killed.

"That war used to be called ‘forgotten’. However, a lot has been done by the scientific and historical communities and the media over the past few years to make sure WWI is no longer forgotten," said Sergey Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society and Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

According to Naryshkin, this website gives every Russian an opportunity to trace the fate of his or her relatives who fought in that war. "This is a tribute to the memory of our forefathers, our grandfathers and great-grandfathers who defended our Homeland in those turbulent years during WWI," he added.

Users to continue work on website

The experience of specialists who created data banks on the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany called "Memorial" and "Feat of the People," which have been combined into the "Memory of the People" website, was used in this latest project.

Every user has an opportunity to create a personal cabinet, save search queries and trace the fate of those who fought in that war by a military unit number. The database also includes description of battles, biographies of military commanders, reference information on military ranks and military uniforms and other useful documents and links about WWI.

Andrey Artizov, Head of the Russian Federal Archival Agency, urged users to join efforts on filling the data bank and send comments on its work.

He also informed that work on copying the bulk of the materials will be wrapped up in 2018, by the end of the centenary of WWI.

In total, the issue at hand is more than 9.5 million files. In the future, the warriors’ descendants will be able to obtain data from digitalized files and receive information about their relatives’ burial places.

On August 1, Russia observes Day of Remembrance of the Russian Warriors who perished in WWI.