Historical Event by the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex at the Zubryonok National Children’s Centre

As part of the Year of Historical Memory, staff from the Stalin Line Historical and Cultural Complex held two themed days entitled “Through the Centuries: The History of Belarusian Statehood” at the Zubryonok National Children’s Centre on 8 and 9 July.

 

 

On 8 July, historical conferences were held on the First World War, the Great Patriotic War and the war in Afghanistan. They were led in the assembly hall by Stalin Line Executive Director Alexander Metla and his daughter Lida, together with Alexander Klochkov, head of the complex’s vehicle fleet. The children who took an active part in the discussions were awarded certificates for shooting blank-firing weapons, operating simulated explosions (gas shooting) and riding in the Soviet BA-64 light armoured car, which had been brought from Stalin Line to Zubryonok especially for the event.

 

 

On 9 July, an exhibition brought from Stalin Line was set up along Zubryonok’s historical trail, beside the memorial plaque to Hero of the Soviet Union Pyotr Tikhonovich Ponomaryov. The children were welcomed by Dmitry Kovalevsky, who was responsible for the section devoted to the war in Afghanistan. 

 

 

He not only spoke about the equipment used by Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan, but also demonstrated his skill with an entrenching tool.

 

 

To lead the children to the shooting area, each camp counsellor had to put on a 5 kg body armour vest and a 1 kg steel helmet with a cover, and carry a 9 kg PK machine gun. 

 

 

Only when they reached the shooting area did the counsellors discover that it had all been… a joke! They could then have a souvenir photograph taken, remove the equipment and… try some shooting and simulated explosions.

 

 

Under the supervision of Dmitry Kovalevsky and Sergei Markevich, the children fired an AK-74 assault rifle and an SVD rifle.

 

 

Sergei Zakharov supervised shooting with a Mauser rifle, while Pavel Maretsky supervised shooting with a Mauser carbine.

 

 

Under Sergei Zakharov’s supervision, the children fired Degtyaryov machine guns, while Andrei Oralin supervised shooting with a Maxim machine gun.

 

 

Pavel Maretsky and Yevgeny Rybintsev  introduced them to other types of weapon.

 

 

Anton Zaitsev supervised the field telephone and the simulated demolition activity (gas shooting).

 

 

On the shore of Lake Naroch, where traces of German First World War trenches still remain, Sergei Zakharov and Anton Zaitsev supervised flare-pistol shooting.

 

 

Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Klochkov took the children for rides in the BA-64 armoured car.