On June 22, Russia honors the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow. On this day in 1941, the armed forces of Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, staring a war that lasted for 1,418 days. This very number of candles will be lit on the night of June 21 to 22 on the Krymskaya embankment near the Museon Park.
The head of the Department of Culture of Moscow, Alexander Kibovsky, said: "On June 22, our country commemorates those who defended our country and did not return from the front, died in captivity, in the occupation. The 'Memory watch. Eternal Fire' action will be held the Alexandrovsky Garden near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and 1418 candles will be lit on the territory of the Museon Park - the number of the Great Patriotic War days. Each candle has its own date, and many people approach specific candles, dates that are related to their events, their destinies, their families. The memory line will be there for 24 hours. It will symbolize the memory of those events better than any words. This looks amazing, because the candles put in a row merge into a long fiery line."
Kibovsky said that he always lights a candle for Ruslan Nikolayevich Kibovsky from Moscow, who died on January 14, 1944, in the breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad: "He was my grandfather's brother. He died very young, there is nobody to light a candle for him, because he died at age of 20. He fought since 1941."
The action will begin at 18:00 on June 21 with the feature film "Sobibor" by Konstantin Khabensky. After that, theatrical and concert event will be held. "The event will be held until the early hours of the morning. I think that we should always remember those events. Not only on May 9th, when we celebrate the day of our glory, our greatness, but commemorate those who did not return from that war quietly, modestly, with all our hearts.
