Diplomats from the Russian Consulate General in Almaty delivered personal congratulations from Russian President Vladimir Putin to two Kazakhstani veterans of the Great Patriotic War, the Russian diplomatic mission reported.
“As part of the events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the consulate’s diplomats conveyed the personal greetings of the President of the Russian Federation to veterans from Almaty,” the diplomatic mission said. The consulate clarified that the congratulations were addressed to Vasily Ivanovich Zinchenko, a former frontline scout born in the RSFSR in 1924, and to Zinaida Grigoryevna Kravtsova, who had been held in a labor camp in Latvia during the war. According to Kazakh media, she was interned together with her mother and brother after being transported in a freight train car from the Pskov region. They were freed from captivity in 1945.
In March, the 101-year-old Zinchenko was awarded the commemorative medal “80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945” on behalf of the President of Russia. The consulate noted that Zinchenko personally escorted Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus as a prisoner. The veteran fought in the Battle of Stalingrad, helped liberate Ukraine and Poland, and took part in the assault on Berlin.
Over 1.3 million Kazakh citizens were mobilized to the front during the Great Patriotic War, with half of them perishing on the battlefield. More than 500 Kazakhstani individuals were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, 111 veterans of the Great Patriotic War currently reside in the republic along with over 42,500 citizens who contributed to the Victory.
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Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS