Monument to missing soldiers
The monument to missing soldiers was opened in Victory Park in 1995, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Victory over Fascism in the Great Patriotic War. It expresses deep sorrow and gratitude to all the soldiers who died in the defence of the USSR, as well as abroad. The bronze memorial stands on the Alley of Memory on a small artificial elevation, not far from the main entrance to the Church of St. George. The authors of the monument are the sculptor Valentin Znoba and the architect Vladimir Budaev (one of the authors of the Victory Monument). The figure of a wounded soldier in soldier’s ammunition, weakened from his wounds, is mounted on a granite pedestal. The brave defender of the Motherland lost strength because of a bleeding wound on his chest. The most severe consequences of the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union are its human losses – military personnel and civilians, amounting to more than 26.6 million people. This figure was obtained as a result of extensive statistical research by demographers and the subsequent work (in the late 80s of the XX century) of the state commission for the clarification of human losses. It was published in a rounded form (“almost 27 million man”) at the solemn meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 8, 1990, dedicated to the 45th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War. The specified number of total human losses (more than 26.6 million people) includes soldiers and partisans killed in battle and died of wounds and diseases, starved to death, civilians were killed during bombing, artillery shelling and punitive actions, prisoners of war shot and tortured in concentration camps, underground workers, as well as workers, peasants and employees, stolen for hard labour.
Address: Moscow, Victory Park
