On May 12, 2023, a solemn event dedicated to the 78th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War was held in the Moryak recreation center in Moscow region.

The action was attended by navy and river fleet veterans and honored guests: Deputy Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Maritime and Inland Water Transport of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Pavel Chernyshev, Head of the Navigation Safety Department of Rosmorrechflot Oleg Chepkasov, Head of the Organizational and Regional Work Department of the All-Russian Fleet Support Movement Gennady Toluzakov, Deputy General Director of FSUE “Rosmorport” Sergey Simonov, Co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of Veterans Organizations at the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Yuri Mikhailov. They laid flowers and wreaths at the monument “In Memory of Fallen Sailors and Ships Lost During the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945”. Cadets of the Academy of Water Transport of the Russian University of Transport kept Guard of Honor in front of the monument. The memory of soldiers who gave their lives for freedom of their homeland was honored with a minute’s silence.

“Today we have traditionally gathered here to honor the memory of those who gave their lives for the Motherland, fought at the front, worked at home for the sake of freedom for future generations,” Sergey Simonov shared. “It was an unprecedented feat of the entire multinational Soviet people. Deepest gratitude to the fearless heroes for their immortal feat, for their faith in Victory, and eternal glory to the fallen!”

Sergey Simonov noted that victory in the war would have been impossible without the military deeds and heroic labor of water transport workers:

“From the first days of the war, sea and river craft not only reliably defended the borders of our Motherland, but also actively participated in supplying the front-line soldiers with necessary means and equipment, ensured the evacuation of civilians, and Soviet sailors showed mass heroism, selflessly fulfilling their duty.”

A rich concert program highlighted the Victory Day campaign. Poems and songs were sung in memory of veterans of the Great Patriotic War, leaving in the hearts of the guests a sense of pride and deep gratitude to veterans whose military feat cannot be overestimated. By tradition, a military field kitchen was organized on the territory of the Moryak recreation center, which allowed the participants of the event to feel the atmosphere of a distant military era.

The solemn event for May 9 in the Moryak recreation center has been held for many years. It is a symbolic place in the history of national water transport.  In Soviet times, a pioneer flotilla was located at the area of the recreation center. The flotilla was created with the direct involvement of the Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Papanin, who during the war years made a significant contribution to the organization of uninterrupted vessel traffic on the Northern Sea Route, as well as to the construction of port shipyards in Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and on the Far Eastern coast.