Memory of Heroes: A Rally at a Military Cemetery in Polotsk in Honor of Victory Day

Employees of the Polotsk Zonal Archives took part in a rally dedicated to the Great Victory.

The rally took place at Military Cemetery No.4251 in the Gromy neighborhood of Polotsk. This is the largest military cemetery (more than 500 soldiers) in Polotsk, where the remains of the city’s liberators lie. The rally was organized by Polotsk Secondary School No.14 named after M.S.Grinevich. Participants included students from Schools Nos.14 and 12, employees of city businesses and organizations, and relatives of fallen soldiers.

The granddaughters of Lieutenant Fyodor Petrovich Kulikov, Evgeniya Borisovna Rodionova (Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation) and Lyudmila Nikolaevna Pikaeva (Saransk, Republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation), attended the rally. They contacted Pavel Mikhailovich Safronov, an archival researcher who studies the heroism of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, through social media to arrange a visit to the burial site of their grandfather, Lieutenant Fyodor Petrovich Kulikov.

For several years, Anatoly Kuzmich Kholopov and his large family have visited the burial site. His father, Kuzma Petrovich Kholopov, was one of the 23 heroic guardsmen who sacrificed their lives to hold the bridge across the Western Dvina during the liberation of Polotsk in July 1944.

The rally was held in a very pleasant, warm, and touching atmosphere.

Pictured: A rally at a military cemetery in Polotsk in honor of Victory Day (08.05.2026).