We will fight resolutely against attempts to rewrite our history, Jeenbekov

Bishkek, Jan.27, 2020. /Kabar/. “We remember our history and will fight resolutely against attempts to rewrite it,” President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbay Jeenbekov said during the requiem rally to mark the anniversary of break of Leningrad Siege.

"This year we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory. This is a common Victory of all the peoples of the Soviet Union. In Kyrgyzstan, the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War will be celebrated as a national holiday.

We will always remember the heroism and courage of our fathers and grandfathers. We remember our history and will resolutely fight against attempts to rewrite it," the President stressed.

He noted the people bow to the memory of all those who died but undefeated, as well as to the memory of over 130,000 Kyrgyzstanis died in Great Patriotic War.

"We must remember those who gave their lives for our future. Now, a minute of silence is being observed in honour of the memory of those who heroically died during the liberation of Leningrad and died bravely on the Great Patriotic War’s fronts,” the President said.

Then a minute of silence was held.

A requiem rally to mark the anniversary of break of siege of Leningrad took place today in Bishkek with the participation of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

The event was held at Daiyr Asanov Park near the monument to the siege.

Vice mayors, war veterans and citizens also came to pay tribute to the memory of the victims.

The siege of Leningrad was a prolonged military blockade undertaken from the south by the Army Group North of Nazi Germany against the Soviet city of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on the Eastern Front in World War II.

The siege started on Sep.8, 1941. Although Soviet forces managed to open a narrow land corridor to the city on Jan.18, 1943, the Red Army did not lift the siege until Jan.27 1944, 872 days after it began.

The blockade became one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, and possibly the costliest in casualties suffered. Some historians classify it as genocide.

More than 16 thousand people, including 3.5 thousand children, were evacuated to Kyrgyzstan.