Six Belarusian cities have been awarded the pennant "For Courage and Resilience during the Great Patriotic War"
April 9, 2025
On April 8, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 144 "On awarding the pennant 'For Courage and Resilience during the Great Patriotic War'". BELTA was informed about this by the press service of the head of state.
Lukashenko awarded nine settlements in Belarus with the pennant for courage and resilience during the war.
Six Belarusian cities, which are examples of heroism and popular resistance shown during the Great Patriotic War, have been awarded the pennant. Among them are Kobrin, Rechitsa, Slonim, Senno, Slavgorod, and Smolevichi.
In these settlements, centers of combat resistance against the German fascist invaders operated at all stages of the war. Local party-Komsomol and patriotic underground, partisan formations, and people's militia forces actively participated in this resistance, cooperating with units of the regular Red Army.
This decree is aimed at immortalizing and preserving the historical memory of the heroic past of the Belarusian people, as well as patriotic education of the population. The awarding of pennants is planned to coincide with Victory Day. In total, 36 cities and settlements in Belarus have been awarded this decoration.
Both the widely known Battle of Senno or the Lepel counter-offensive, and lesser-known but no less fierce battles on the Shchara River near Slonim, will forever remain in the people's memory and in textbooks on military art.
For almost a month, the defenders of Slonim fought their way into the city to recapture it from the enemy. The success in liberating the city in 1944 later played a decisive strategic role in the Red Army's offensive on Berlin.
Slavgorod changed hands several times for almost two months. Rechitsa and Slavgorod formed a powerful fist of people's militia from the first days of the war, while partisan and party-Komsomol underground movements became widespread in Kobrin and Smolevichi.
Sennno and its surroundings became a partisan region with over a hundred detachments of popular avengers and a liaison airfield.
The contribution of the residents of these Belarusian cities to the successful solution of the tasks of the "Rail War" operation, the preparation of the "Bagration" operation, and the defeat of the surrounded largest Wehrmacht grouping "Center" in the maw of the "Minsk Cauldron" is invaluable.
Thousands of patriots fought heroically against the enemy under occupation and helped the Red Army bring the long-awaited liberation closer in the enemy's rear. During the war, the fascists destroyed a total of over 60,000 civilians in the cities awarded the pennant.