Victory Day celebrated at Kazan University

The commemorative activities of the 76th anniversary of the victory over Nazi forces were held on April 30.

Rector Ilshat Gafurov addressed the university employees and students who convened in the courtyard of the Main Building, “Much is done today to preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic War. There are many events, TV programs, museums; new documents are found in archives. This is all to prevent the denigration of our history, the great victory and the role of the Soviet people in that victory.”

In the previous years, KFU used to organize a victory march in the vicinity of the Main Building, but 2020 and 2021 are the exceptions because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, a more modest format was chosen. However, as usual, the participants brought with them photos of their ancestors – veterans of the war.

Lieutenant general, Military Commissar of Tatarstan Sergey Pogodin also addressed the gathering, “The victory was obtained with a heavy price, and we must always remember that. 700 thousand people from the Tatar Autonomous Socialist Republic went to the front, and half of them didn’t return.”

Yevgeny Strukov, Chairman of the University’s Trade Union, noted that over 600 individuals from Kazan University partook in the battles of the Great Patriotic War – the exact number is still unknown. There are 458 names mentioned on the wall in the Memorial Alley of the University, and 68 more will be added soon.

Veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Alexander Malov, was in attendance and also gave a speech.

On behalf of international students, Habu Grace John, a Nigerian freshwoman studying Russian philology, noted, “The Victory Day is a day of joy and a day of sorrow for those who sacrificed their lives for freedom and for us.”

The ceremony ended with a laying of flowers to the memorial wall.