23.10.2017.
Homage Paid to the Fallen Members of the Red Army
Today, on the occasion of 23rd October, Day of Liberation of Novi Sad in the Second World War, the members of the Office of Defence Attaché of the Russian Federation visited the graves in the River Flotilla barracks “Aleksandar Berić” in Novi Sad, of six sailors of the Red Army who gave their lives during the battle for the liberation of the town and clearing the Danube river from remaining mines.
For more than seven decades now, the barracks grounds is the resting place of the six members of the Red Army, Third Rank Captain Pavel Ivanovich Denisov (1918-1945), Grigory Ivanovich Pechersky (1926-1945), Alexey Stoliarev (1918-1944), Viatcheslav Szuk (1926-1944), and two more unnamed members of the Red Army River Flotilla, whose graves are marked by pyramids with five- pointed stars.The sailors of the Red Army died in the operations of demining the Danube. The last contact with the families of the buried warriors was made in 1960, and the last time that the Russian Defence Attaché from the Embassy in Belgrade officially laid wreath at their graves was in 1966. Still, the members of the River Flotilla do not let that their fallen colleagues fall into oblivion, so one can always see a bunch of flowers on the graves.
Colonel Vladimir Alexeyevich Korneenkov and Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Viktorovich Kleban laid wreaths at the graves of their countrymen. A wreath was also laid at the graves of Red Army River Flotilla members by a delegation of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia consisting of Navy Captain Andrija Andrić, Commander of the River Flotilla, Colonel Dragan Bojić, Deputy Commander of the River Flotilla and Navy Captain Venko Mehandžiski, Chief of Staff. Memorial service for the sailors who died for freedom of Novi Sad was served by a chaplain of the River Flotilla Captain Selimir Bagić.- This is not a mere tradition; it is a feeling of the Russian-Serbian soul. When the times were difficult for Russia, the assistance would arrive from Serbia, and when the times were difficult for Serbia, the assistance would come from Russia. It has always been like that throughout the history, and I hope that it is how it will be in the future as well. Such common memorials to our soldiers who lost their lives together are the reason more for us to always be on the same side. It is very important both for this generation and for the future generations especially of the both countries. – Colonel Vladimir Alexeyevich Korneenkov said after visiting the memorial room of the River Flotilla and the Orthodox Church in the barracks grounds.
