The Road of Life rally has been launched in St. Petersburg today. The road of courage. Victory Road", organized by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Federal Road Agency and the State Company Avtodor in the year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent greetings to the participants of the historical and patriotic Road of Life rally. The road of courage. Victory Road", emphasizing the contribution of the event to preserving the memory of the workers of Russian transport and road warriors who worked during the Great Patriotic War.
Roman Starovoit, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, delivered a welcoming speech. In addition, he noted the importance of such events.
"The rally originates in the holy land – for the residents of the hero city of Leningrad and every Russian, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the victorious soldiers. And our Victory was forged, among other things, in the hero fortress of Brest. I wish all participants a good journey and all the best," Roman Starovoit emphasized.
The rally will take place from June 18 to 22 along a route covering iconic places of military glory in Russia and the Republic of Belarus. The participants will honor the memory of the war heroes – both soldiers of the Red Army and road workers who played a key role in the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The first event of the rally was the laying of flowers at the monument "Mother Motherland" at Piskarevskoye cemetery.
The launch ceremony was also attended by Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chairman of the Management Board of the Avtodor State Company, Roman Novikov, Head of Rosavtodor, Andrey Mityashin, Hero of the Russian Federation, and Vyacheslav Pleshakov, participant of the Time of Heroes program.
"This rally is not only a symbolic memorial road, but also a reminder of the heroic work of road workers who risked their lives to build and restore roads for the front. Their feat has not been forgotten, because now road workers are among those who, along with the military, are working in the zone of a special military operation, restoring the destroyed road infrastructure," said Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chairman of the Board of the Avtodor State Company.
Evgeny Dietrich, General Director of PJSC STLC, and Evgeny Varov, Acting Chairman of the St. Petersburg Transport Infrastructure Development Committee, became guests of honor at the event.
Also on the first day of the rally, we visited one of the key points – the monument to Those who Died defending the Fatherland on the 563rd km of the M-11 Neva highway, installed at the mass grave site of the fighters found during the search.
Alexander Dronov, Acting Governor of Novgorod Region, and Nikolai Sergienko, participant of the Time of Heroes program, joined the delegation of road workers there.
The route of the rally runs through the highways M-11 "Neva", M-10 "Russia", R-132 "Golden Ring", M-1 "Belarus". During the war, the territories where these roads now run became the scene of fierce battles, bombing targets and strategic offensive lines.
The solemn laying ceremonies, as well as the "Candle of Memory" campaign, will take place in Vyshny Volochok, at the Rzhevsky Memorial, in Smolensk, Minsk and will end in Brest, a symbol of the heroic defense of the beginning of the war. On the night of June 21-22, a patriotic concert dedicated to the Day of Remembrance and Mourning will be held at the Brest Hero Fortress Memorial Complex.
The participants of the rally were representatives of the Russian Ministry of Transport, Rosavtodor, the state-owned Avtodor Company, contractors and public organizations, as well as students of transport universities. The partners of the event were the International television Network RT, the Russian News Agency TASS.
