On the 67th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, students at the Moscow State Medical and Dental University took part in a torchlight procession through the center of Moscow to commemorate medical students who served at the front during the war.
© RIA Novosti . Kirill Kalinnikov / Go to the mediabankOn the 67th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, students at the Moscow State Medical and Dental University took part in a torchlight procession through the center of Moscow to commemorate medical students who served at the front during the war.
On the 67th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, students at the Moscow State Medical and Dental University took part in a torchlight procession through the center of Moscow to commemorate medical students who served at the front during the war.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankStudents marched with burning torches along the Garden Ring from the university’s building on Delegatskaya Street to 4 Dolgorukovskaya Street which houses the university’s clinical and diagnostic center. In June 1941, young doctors joined the Red Army there.
Students marched with burning torches along the Garden Ring from the university’s building on Delegatskaya Street to 4 Dolgorukovskaya Street which houses the university’s clinical and diagnostic center. In June 1941, young doctors joined the Red Army there.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankOleg Yanushevich, left, the university’s rector and longtime lecturer, used the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall to light the first torch.
Oleg Yanushevich, left, the university’s rector and longtime lecturer, used the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall to light the first torch.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankThe flame was placed in an amphora and used to light 63 torches.
The flame was placed in an amphora and used to light 63 torches.
© RIA Novosti . Kirill Kalinnikov / Go to the mediabankThe names of the war veterans were read out, and torches were carried to the university’s wall at the meeting held near Moscow State Medical and Dental University’s clinical and diagnostic center.
The names of the war veterans were read out, and torches were carried to the university’s wall at the meeting held near Moscow State Medical and Dental University’s clinical and diagnostic center.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankDrummers were followed by torchbearers, and nearly a thousand students.
Drummers were followed by torchbearers, and nearly a thousand students.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankThe torches were placed at a monument to medical students who served in the war, as an orchestra played nearby.
The torches were placed at a monument to medical students who served in the war, as an orchestra played nearby.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankThe event stirred controversy, with some internet bloggers and media calling for its cancellation because it was so closely reminiscent of torchlight parades in Nazi Germany.
The event stirred controversy, with some internet bloggers and media calling for its cancellation because it was so closely reminiscent of torchlight parades in Nazi Germany.
© RIA Novosti . Ilia Pytalev / Go to the mediabankHowever, the students reject any comparison to Nazi marches. They say each burning torch symbolizes a student who did not return from the war.
However, the students reject any comparison to Nazi marches. They say each burning torch symbolizes a student who did not return from the war.