The Mausoleum to the Soviet Internationalist Soldier, located in Havana, shelters, like an eternal home, the remains of a group of combatants from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), who fell in fulfillment of an internationalist mission in Cuba.
In tribute to them, the memorial site hosted on Sunday the celebration of the Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland, on the occasion of the 107th anniversary of the founding of the Red Army. Floral offerings were laid on behalf of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).
Captain Valery N. Zubarev, Russian Defense Attaché in Cuba, highlighted the impeccable preservation of the pantheon: "By preserving this history, we trace ethical paradigms for those who will build the future: our children".
He established a contrast with the demolition of similar monuments in Eastern European nations, emerged from the extinct socialist camp, to impose the oblivion of the services provided by the USSR to the sovereignty and freedom of many peoples during the Great Patriotic War.
This site symbolizes a collaboration extended over many years and strengthened by special ties, said Zubarev, supported by a quote from the Apostle José Martí: "the world is strong and beautiful because of friends".
Meanwhile, Brigadier General José Antonio Sánchez Fabré, head of the Directorate of Educational Institutions of the FAR, highlighted the Red Army as an essential factor to stop the Nazi-Fascist barbarism during World War II, at the cost of millions of lives.
Likewise, cooperation with the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union strengthened its Cuban counterpart, through the shipment of weapons, advice and the presence of thousands of technicians and specialists, as well as the training of Cuban command cadres in academies of the Eurasian country, said Sánchez Fabré.
