Lukashenko explained what unites Belarus’ Cherven District and Atyashevo Municipal District of Mordovia
On October 19th, the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, met with Head of the Republic of Mordovia Artem Zdunov. During the visit to our country, the guests have already visited a number of enterprises, as well as the Museum of the Great Patriotic War History and the Khatyn Memorial.
The Belarusian Head of State started the meeting with our shared history, noting that this is not just a working visit for Artem Zdunov, “Stepping onto our land for the first time as the head of a Russian region, you are touching the heroic history of your family. Belarus remembers the feat of senior sergeant Vasily Fedorovich Zdunov, who was a Hero of the Soviet Union, accomplished during the Great Patriotic War. The titles of heroes weren’t awarded just like that.”
Vasily Fedorovich Zdunov – a cousin of the grandfather of Mordovia’s Head Artem Zdunov – commanded a gun crew of the 207th separate anti-tank fighter division of the 343rd rifle division on the 1st Belorussian Front during the war years. On July 1st, 1944, near the village of Sunishche, Cherven District, a gun crew under the command of Vasily Zdunov cut the road to retreating enemy troops on the Mogilev-Minsk highway. In the battle, the crew destroyed 2 assault guns, 4 vehicles, 8 carts, and several dozen enemy soldiers and officers. When the enemy tried to capture the gun, Vasily Zdunov organised a defence and successfully repelled the attack.
In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko underlined that the Belarusian side sincerely welcomes the initiative of Mordovia’s Head to establish sister-city ties between the Cherven District of the Minsk Region, where a relative of Artem Zdunov fought, and his homeland: the Atyashevo Municipal District of Mordovia.
