By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated March 26, 1998 “On state holidays, public holidays and memorable dates in the Republic of Belarus” February 15 was established as the Day of Remembrance of Internationalist Soldiers.
The withdrawal of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops (LCSV) from Afghanistan was completed 35 years ago – on February 15, 1989.
In December 2023, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the withdrawal of the Soviet army from the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, a jubilee medal “35 Years of the Withdrawal of Soviet Troops from Afghanistan” was established; the corresponding decree was signed by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. The medal will be awarded to citizens of the republic (including posthumously) who performed military and service duty in Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989.
During the entire war, 620 thousand Soviet servicemen passed through Afghanistan. For military and other merits, more than 200 thousand people from the OKSV were awarded orders and medals, 86 were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, four of them Belarusians. About 30 thousand Belarusians fought as part of the limited contingent in Afghanistan, while 771 people did not return from Afghanistan, 12 of them are listed as missing.
In the Republic of Belarus, recognition of the feat of internationalist soldiers remains unchanged. In the center of Minsk, in the bend of the Svisloch River, a memorial was erected on the “Island of Tears” in memory of those who died while performing their international duty in Afghanistan. Monuments and memorials to internationalist soldiers have been erected in many cities and towns of Belarus.
The staff of the Republican Center for State Environmental Expertise, Training, Advanced Training and Retraining of Personnel of the Ministry of Natural Resources took part in the solemn ceremony of laying flowers and honored the memory of the dead with a minute of silence. Today we pay tribute to the soldiers of that war, to all those who remained true to their oath to the end, who fulfilled their duty to the Motherland at the cost of their lives. This date serves as a reminder for us of how important it is to preserve and support peace and harmony!
