Russia marks Day of Soldiers Serving Abroad

Russia is marking the Day of Russians Serving Abroad, coinciding with February 15, 1989, when Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan. Over 14,000 soldiers and officers died in 10 years of war.

The day does not only commemorate veterans of the war in Afghanistan. WWII ended with over 1.5 million civilians and over 30 million troops involved in conflicts abroad, over 25,000 of whom died, Lieutenant-Colonel of Ground Forces Sergey Vlasov said, ITAR-TASS reports.

Most of them were in Korea and Vietnam, Syria and Egypt, Mozambique and Angola.

Boris Gromov, USSR Hero, Chairman of the All-Russian Veteran Organization “Military Brotherhood”, Governor of Moscow Region, reminded that about 15,000 troops died in Afghanistan. 620,000 officers and soldiers served in Afghanistan, 546,000 of them took part in combat. 14,453 died. Over 200,000 servicemen were honoured with awards, 10,000 of them dead, RIA Novosti reports.