Photo: Akorda

The Head of State, accompanied by a guard of honour, laid flowers to the Eternal Fire near the Memorial of Glory and honoured the memory of the heroes who died in the Great Patriotic War with a moment of silence, reports the Akorda press service.

In his congratulatory address to the veterans and guests of the ceremony, the President of Kazakhstan particularly noted the contribution of Kazakhstanis to the Victory over the fascist invaders.

- Kazakhstan sent to the front more than 1 million 800 thousand people, half of which did not return. They showed courage in the war. 500 of our compatriots obtained the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Workers on the home front to provide the front with armament, food and ammunition worked double tides tirelessly, Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

The President of Kazakhstan stressed that the current generation could consider itself happy, because it has not seen the war horrors.

- Our grandfathers survived the revolution and repression, our fathers - the Great Patriotic War. Only our generation lives in peacetime, and this is the great merit of our veterans. Thank you very much!, Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

At the end of the ceremony, the Head of State held informal talks with the war veterans and the homefront workers.

- When you are around, we - your children and grandchildren - feel more relaxed. We are fuelled by your heroism, learn perseverance from you, how to be patriots of the Motherland, to love the land of your fathers and fight to the last drop of blood and be ready to sacrifice life for our Fatherland - for our beloved Kazakhstan. Dear friends, I congratulate you on the occasion! I wish you good health, success and all the best, the President of Kazakhstan concluded.

In turn, the front-line soldiers cordially thanked Nursultan Nazarbayev for the attention and care shown.

“The Qazaq Times”