World War II veterans in the Russia’s northern region of Murmansk have received most inappropriate congratulations for upcoming Victory Day as they discovered letters in their mailboxes informing them of their right to a free burial.
Veteran Nina Kuznetsova, who was recruited to the front in 1943,
told TV-21 channel that she felt sick after opening the envelope.
“Our time has come, it’s time to die. And on the eve of May 9
[Victory Day] we get such letters instead of
congratulations,” she said.
According to FlashNord news agency, the local branch of the
Military Memorial Company has sent similar letters to all WWII
participants who currently live in the region, situated above the
Arctic Circle.
The company explained that they had no intention of offending the
veterans’ feelings, but only wanted to remind them of their
burial benefits.
"It’s information about funeral services. So what? Don’t we
have funerals in the country or what? Are veterans the only ones
who are dying? This is ridiculous. I’m sorry, but I didn’t write:
‘I am waiting for you’ in the letter. I just wrote about the
existing benefits,” Aleksandr Belikov, head of the Murmansk
branch of the Military Memorial Company, said.
In his later interview, Belikov said that the letters were sent
out in April and it’s the tardiness of the Russia Post, which is
to blame for the veterans getting them just before Victory Day.
He also pointed out that the decision to organize a mail out on
the burial benefits was made in the company’s headquarters in
Moscow.
However, Belikov apologized for the letters to Nina Kuznetsova
personally and to everyone who received the same letters and
found them humiliating.
The governor of Murmansk Region, Marian Kovtun, also felt
disturbed when she learned about the controversy and called for
the resignations of those responsible.
"The director of the Murmansk branch of Military Memorial
Company, Aleksandr Belikov, has to fall on his knees before the
veterans and ask them for forgiveness. And then quit his
job," she said in a statement on Saturday.
"Such actions are the apogee of cynicism on the part of the
authors, only those who completely lost their conscience, shame
and reason could be sending such ‘graveyard’ letters on the eve
of Victory Day,” the governor added.
Since 1994, the Military Memorial Company has been assigned by
the Russian government to eternalize the memory of the country’s
men-at-arms and provide funeral services for them.
The Russian World War II participants have the right for a free
funeral in accordance with the federal ‘Veteran’ law, which was
signed by President Boris Yeltsin in 1995.
Russia and over 20 countries around the globe celebrate Victory
Day on May 9 (May 8 in Europe, due to time difference between
Berlin and Moscow), as the date marks the capitulation of Nazi
Germany to the Soviet Union and Allies in World War II back in
1945.