The day of Victory in Russia! · 8:53am May 9th, 2016

Today, Russia celebrates the 71st anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.

It is hard, if not impossible, to describe the importance of this date for us. It is nigh impossible to find a family that was not affected somehow by it. My own ancestors, two of my great-grandfathers, were fighting among many people who comprised the Soviet Union. One of them was wounded by a shrapnel fragment, but survived, and lived long enough to know that he had a great-grandson - me. The other one, unfortunately, was much less lucky. In February 1945, he was killed in action while fighting in Poland. His grave is still there somewhere.

Officially, approximately 27 million people, both soldiers and civilians, lost their lives in this war. Unofficially, it might be more, because even now, people still uncover unmarked graves with remains of killed soldiers; it's quite possible that the number will rise in the future.

To see the hydra of Nazism defeated, our people paid a horrible price. Some died in combat. Some were gassed, or worked to death in concentration camps. Some were burned alive in locked sheds. Some people starved when 125 grams of bread a day could not support them anymore.

The battles under Moscow, the siege of Leningrad, the grinder of Stalingrad, the enormous tank battles of Kursk, the liberation of Europe, and the battle for Berlin will long be remembered by Russians.

By me.

Which is why I changed my avatar to the pic of the Order of the Patriotic War, and why my page currently bears the flag of USSR. These will hold on for some time, depending on when I consider it necessary to remove them.

And let me offer my belated congratulations of another anniversary of the victory over fascism. Happy Victory Day, everyone!