SCO leaders pay tribute to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War

On the eve of the celebration of the 76th anniversary of the Great Victory, the heads of diplomatic missions and diplomats from Russia, China, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Uzbekistan, as well as SCO leaders and representatives from the Chinese authorities visited a memorial to Soviet and Mongol soldiers in the city of Zhangjiakou (Zhangbei County in China's Hebei Province), 300 km from Beijing. The memorial immortalises the names of 69 Soviet and 56 Mongol soldiers.

Representatives from the 12 countries paid tribute to the memory of the Soviet and Mongol soldiers killed during the liberation of China from the Japanese invaders during World War II. They laid wreaths and flowers at the memorial and honoured the memory of the dead with a minute of silence. The SCO Deputy Secretary-General Erik Ashimov laid a wreath on behalf of the SCO Secretariat.

Participants in the memorial ceremony also approached the mass grave with remnants of 60 soldiers, and visited a memorial museum where they had an opportunity to recall the military history of the 20th century and learn more details about the course of the hostilities.

Thus, in accordance with the agreement signed at the Yalta conference in February 1945, the USSR fulfilled its commitments and joined the war for the liberation of China's northeastern areas from the Japanese invaders in August 1945. Supported by Mongol troops and Communist Chinese Communist guerrilla units, the Soviet Army routed the Japanese aggressor in 25 days and the armed forces of the puppet states of Manchukuo and Menjiang. The victory was not easy — over 12,000 Soviet and Mongol soldiers perished in the hostilities against the Japanese aggressors.