Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets become cities of military glory
BORODINO, Moscow region. Sept 2 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino and bestowed the City of Military Glory title upon Mozhaisk and Maloyaroslavets.
The president started his visit to Borodino from laying a wreath at the moment to the Battle of Borodino heroes, which was laid down in August 1837 at the place where the squadron of Gen. Lt. Nikolay Raevsky was deployed in 1812.
"There were many tragedies and wars in our country's history but only two of them are called Patriotic. Both wars decided the fates of Russia, Europe and the whole world," Putin told the assembled.
Russian and foreign guests are attending the Sunday event to commemorate the heroes of Borodino. Among them are the speakers of both houses of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matviyenko and Sergei Naryshkin, Deputy Prime Ministers Olga Golodets, Dmitry Kozak, Dmitry Rogozin and Vladislav Surkov, ministers and parliamentarians, head of the House of Romanov Maria Romanova, former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, ambassadors from Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Serbia, Ukraine and France, as well as the descendants of the Russian and French participants of the 1812 Patriotic War.