For the Sake of Life on Pridnestrovian Land

June 19 - sad date in the history of the republic. 23 years ago the armed forces of Moldova made the bloodiest operation against the inhabitants of Pridnestrovie. It had been bleeding for40 days and nights in the city of Bendery. 489 Pridnestrovians, including 132 civilians were killed during the fighting. 1242 men were injured. 380 children have been orphaned as a result of the hostilities. More than two decades have passed since that day, as the city returned to civilian life and the memory of the fateful 1992 unites citizens.

Traditionally, events dedicated to beginning of Bendery tragedy, which were attended by over a thousand Pridnestrovians, were held in the commemorative day. Lithium for the dead soldiers was made early in the morning on June 19 at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration. The central event of the day was the funeral procession column from Liberation Square. The column was accompanied by drummers and standard bearers to the memorial of memory and grief, led by the leadership of the republic and the city. Relatives of the fallen defenders for the first time took part in the event "Immortal regiment". They held portraits of those who were lost in hostilities in 1992.

The speaker of parliament Mikhail Burla, deputies of the Supreme Council, Chairman of the Government Tatiana Turanskaya, heads of ministries and departments of the Republic laid a wreath at the Memorial. The dead soldiers observed a minute of silence. They remembered defenders at Borisov cemetery by name. There was a mourning mass-meeting. Flowers on the graves of the fallen were laid at the Alley of Heroes.

Evgeni Mukhin is among the heroes, whose name is carved on a granite slab. He had been serving in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for 28 years, in 1991 he came with his family to Pridnestrovie, where he died a year later, defending the republic.

Memory of Bendery heroes was honored at the chapel on the street bearing the name of one of the fallen defenders Gregory Pavlovich Echin. Here, April 1, 1992 the OPON of Moldova Republic opened machine-gun fire on the car of State Motor Vehicle Inspectorate of Bendery, patrol car of Pridnestrovian Guard and a bus with cotton mill workers. As a result, 7 people were killed. Fresh flowers were laid at the memorial plate.

The funeral ceremony was held at the new memorial complex in honor of Fatherland defenders recently constructed near the bridge across the Dniester, in the center of the road junction of Bendery. There is also the Chairman of the Supreme Council and the parliamentarians laid a wreath in memory of the fallen heroes.