MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) – A memorial commemorating Soviet soldiers who died in conflicts around the world during the Cold War era will be built on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, a Russian lawmaker said Tuesday.
The memorial will form an architectural ensemble around an existing monument honoring Soviet soldiers who died during the Soviet war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989.
“It will be a beautiful composition with additional sculptures and bas-reliefs depicting certain historical events,” said Frantz Klintsevich, deputy head of the lower house of parliament’s defense committee.
Lining up the alley leading to the memorial, stone tablets with the names of about 10,000 Soviet soldiers who perished not only in Afghanistan but also in all “hotspots” around the world will be erected, Klintsevich said.
The memorial is expected to be completed in the summer, the lawmaker said.
“We will start preliminary excavation in the near future, probably in March. We have already begun engraving the names on the memorial tablets,” he said.
According to official statistics, the Soviet Union was involved in over 30 conflicts in some 29 countries, including Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Yemen and Nigeria.
Some 15,000 Soviet troops died in Afghanistan alone, before the full military withdrawal from the country in February 1989.
