DUSHANBE, April 27, 2014, Asia-Plus -- On the occasion of the 69th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the office of Russia’s Development Foundation “Institute for Eurasian Studies” (IES) in Tajikistan organizes a number of activities in Dushanbe.

Director of IES’s office in Tajikistan, Ms. Galina Nazarova, says that the St. George’s Ribbon action will take place in the Tajik capital city from May 8-10.  Students from Dushanbe universities and schools will participate in this action.

“Besides, Radio Vatan will broadcast wartime songs and organize a series of programs about war veterans living in Tajikistan from May 1 to May 10,” Ms. Nazarova said, noting that a ceremonial meeting and concert dedicated to the 69th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 will take place at the Russian military base’s headquarters in Dushanbe on May 9.

“On May 10, IES’s office in Tajikistan and the Children’s Creative Learning Center in Dushanbe’s Ismoili Somoni district will organize a festive event dedicated to Victory Day in the Youth Park under support of the Ismoili Somoni district administration,” IES’s office director noted.

The St. George’s Ribbon action in memory of the victims of World War II is carried out under the motto of “We Remember! We Are Proud!”

Last year, 2,000 St. George ribbons were handed over to the military base servicemen and 2,000 other St. George ribbons symbolizing the combat feat of World War II veterans were handed over to residents of Dushanbe at the Dousti Square in downtown Dushanbe.

The St. George Ribbon constitutes one of the most recognized and respected symbols of military valor in modern Russia. It is widely associated with the commemoration of World War II.  The ribbon consists of a black and orange bicolor pattern, with three black and two orange stripes.

The Georgian ribbon emerged as part of the Order of St. George, established in 1769 as the highest military decoration of Imperial Russia and re-established in 1998 by the Russian Federation.  The ribbon of the Order of Glory, an order of the Soviet Union that was established on November 8, 1943, was orange with three black stripes – the same as that of the Cross of St. George.  The Order of Glory was awarded to non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file of the armed forces, as well as junior lieutenants of the air force, for bravery in the face of the enemy.

Since the 60th anniversary of the Victory Day (May 9, 2005), the ribbon is freely worn by civilians as an act of commemoration and remembrance.

More than 280,000 residents of Tajikistan participated in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and some 70,000 of them died in battles.  55 of residents of Tajikistan were given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.  Besides, 15 other Tajikistan’s residents were Full Holders of the Order of Glory.     

The Soviet Victory Day or May 9 marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War (also known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and some post-Soviet states).  It was first inaugurated in the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the surrender document late in the evening on May 8, 1945 (May 9 by Moscow Time).  It happened after the original capitulation that Germany earlier agreed to the joint Allied forces of the Western Front.  The Soviet government announced the victory early on May 9 after the signing ceremony in Berlin.