On 9 May 2017, a delegation from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation headed by SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov and Yevgeny Sysoyev, Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), visited Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna and laid wreaths at the Soviet War Memorial dedicated to the heroes who were killed in action while fighting Nazi invaders for the freedom and independence of European nations. Members of the delegation also stood in silence to honour the memory of people killed during World War II.
The SCO delegation, now paying a working visit to the Austrian capital, is attending the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation.
The Soviet War Memorial is dedicated to those who perished in action while fighting Nazi invaders for the freedom and independence of European nations, is located on Schwarzenbergplatz in Vienna. The sculpture of a soldier with a PPSh-41submachine gun slung across his shoulder and holding a Soviet banner and Soviet coat of arms is standing high up on a pedestal. Designed by architect Sergei Yakovlev and sculptor Mikael Intizaryan, the monument was unveiled on 19 August 1945.