On this day: The Day of The Unknown Soldier

Dec 03 2017

Russia Beyond

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Moscow.

Artur Widak/Zuma Press/Global Look Press

Russians commemorate missing and lost soldiers on this date.

The Day of The Unknown soldier has been celebrated in Russian since Dec.3, 2014 in memory of those killed in conflict. On this day in 1966, to honor the 25th anniversary of Soviet defeat over Nazi troops near Moscow, the ashes of the Unknown Soldier were buried near the Kremlin wall in Alexandrovsky Garden.

Around two million Russian and Soviet soldiers went missing during the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries. People still search for those MIA: specialists from the Russian Defense Ministry and volunteers organize expeditions and study archival documents in the hope of unearthing soldiers’ fates.

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Russian history On this day

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