The restored memorial Saur-Mogila in the Donetsk People’s Republic will pass the memory of the feat of WW II heroes and present-day Donbass liberators to new generations, Lugansk People’s Republic Head Leonid Pasechnik said during the unveiling ceremony.  

The ceremony took place on Day of Donbass Liberation from Nazi invaders. A particle of the eternal flame lit up at the memorial had been taken from the Unknown Solider Tomb at the Kremlin Wall in Moscow. The ceremony was attended by Pasechnik, DPR Head Denis Pushilin, First Deputy Head of the Russian president’s administration Sergey Kiriyenko and LPR Public Chamber Chairman Alexey Koryakin. After the lighting of the eternal flame, Pushilin and Pasechnik laid flowers at the foot of the Victory Soldier monument. Next, a minute of silence was announced.  President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin sent a video address to the participants.  
“We defend this memory, that is the first. Second, we’ve enhanced this memory today, this history, we’ve filled it with our own history, modern history, the history of our contemporaries who repeat the feat of our grandfathers and great grandfathers today,” Pasechnik said.
  He underlined that this feat is repeated by “absolutely the same, ordinary guys from all Russian regions regardless of their nationality, true patriots of their country who love it wholeheartedly and are ready to give their lives for its freedom and independence.”  
“It is our history. Today, we’ve preserved this memory, we’ve preserved this history, we’ve restored the ruined memorial adding our memory to it, and are passing it to next generations so that they remember and venerate their grandfathers who shed their blood on this land, our Russian land,” the LPR leader said.
  Saur-Mogila became a key symbol of the defeat of the Nazi troops during the Great Patriotic War. The area saw fierce battles during the liberation of Donbass in 1943. It was one of the defense lines of Hitler’s army. A memorial complex featuring a 36-meter-high stela and the sculpture of a Soviet soldier at the foot was unveiled here in 1967. Later on, an eternal flame was lit up. DPR forces and the Ukrainian army clashed in a fierce battle in the Saur-Mogila area in the summer of 2014.  The fighting inflicted serious damage on the monument. Historical reliefs have kept the traces artillery strikes sand shell fragments. Rebuilding works started on May 26, 2022 by the Ministry Construction Complex of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Military History Society. *i*ie