MINSK, 6 August (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko laid flowers at the Mound of Glory Memorial on 6 August,
BelTA has learned.These days the country is marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus and the 80th anniversary of the operation Bagration. A symbolic ceremony with the participation of the head of state took place at the Mound of Glory as part of the commemoration events.
Since 2023 the memorial complex has been undergoing another stage of reconstruction. Construction and installation works have been carried out on the central staircase and the place for laying flowers, a fountain, water storage tanks, automatic irrigation, engineering networks, parking, administration building and underground toilets, and outdoor lighting networks. Multimedia screens have been installed in the park and the exposition of military hardware has been expanded.
The reconstruction of the staircase to the Mound of Glory is scheduled for the second half of 2024.
The Mound of Glory was laid on 30 September 1966 by representatives of the hero cities of Moscow, Leningrad, Volgograd, Sevastopol, Odessa, Kiev, Brest Hero Fortress, military units, workers and students of Minsk and Minsk Oblast. The monumental sculptural composition was built to commemorate the victorious completion of the operation Bagration, which led to the defeat of the Nazi Army Group Center.
The Mound of Glory is surrounded by a memorial park. The monument is included in the list of material objects that have been given the status and category of historical and cultural values of Belarus. In 2003, the head of state supported the initiative of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB) to take patronage over the Mound of Glory. The first large-scale reconstruction of the memorial was carried out that year.
The funds for the first stage of its reconstruction was allocated from the presidential reserve fund, with the Federation of Trade Unions paying part of the costs. The FTUB also did a lot of work to organize fund-raising events. The reconstruction effort resulted in large-scale repair works and the launch of an open-air museum of military hardware.
The next large-scale reconstruction stage of the Mound of Glory Memorial was carried out by the Federation of Trade Unions in 2015. The effort resulted in the restoration of lost fragments and monumental mosaics, repair of structural elements, including all steps, complete replacement of the grass covering of the hill, and the installation of new decorative lighting. In 2016, a solar photovoltaic station was installed on the site to ensure uninterrupted lighting of the Mound of Glory.