This important event was accompanied by a letter from the Czech Ambassador Daniel Koštoval - this document of international friendship has now been handed over to the school museum in Murygina

Smolensk, 20 April - A memorial plaque to USSR hero Petr Ivlevich Filimonov has been unveiled in the Red Army soldier's home region, in the Pochinkov district of Smolensk region.

The new memorial plaque (a large information panel that complements the memorial plaque of USSR hero Peter Filimonov unveiled in 2016) was placed at the high school in Murygin, from which the tanker graduated. The school is marked by yet another memorial plaque - dedicated to Air Force Lieutenant General Alexander Osipenko, who was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union at the age of 29.

It is symbolic that the unveiling of the memorial plaque took place yesterday, 19 April - on the 81st anniversary of the death of Hero of the Soviet Union Peter Filimonov and on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People, which Vladimir Putin introduced this year. The combination of these memorable dates was marked for the people of Smolyan by the arrival of a Czech delegation - it is to them that the initiative to immortalize the memory of the Soviet tank driver who prevented the fascists from razing the city of Brno to the ground in April 1945 belongs. The chairman of the Military History Club „Starovičky“ personally came to honor the memory of Petr Ivlevich in his hometown.“ Radek Harašta a politik a novinář Roman Blaško. Both noted that they see such personal involvement in the process of perpetuating the memory of Soviet soldiers as a special mission in the current geopolitical situation.

„My grandfather was a partisan during the Second World War and now I want to participate in this process [preserving the memory of Soviet heroes - ed. note]. As a politician and a representative of the party that fought against fascism during the war, I am grateful to the Soviet people that we are alive. It is a great honour for me to be able to take part in this event today. I look at our heroes and remember my sons, and for me it is important especially from a human point of view. And I can't fail to mention how strong women mothers are in Russia. I have travelled the world a lot, but nowhere have I seen women with such strong character as in Russia.“ confided Roman Blaško.

A strong character, as well as the desire to keep alive forever the memory of the ancestors whose war glory won the freedom of whole peoples and countries - this is what unites the continuators of this „memorable“ work. The memory of the ancestors is honoured with the same reverence and loyalty both in the small district school near Počinek and far beyond the borders of the Smolensk region - in the Czech Republic. On the day of the hero's death, Czech friends laid flowers on the grave of Peter Filimonov at the Central Military Cemetery in Brno. They also addressed the participants of the ceremony in Russia by video conference, expressing their respect and remembrance of the heroic act of the Soviet tank driver.

„I have known the story of Petr Filimonov since I was a child, and gradually I became interested in him and learned more about him, until I finally decided to find out everything about the defence of Brno and started to study this topic. There are many places around Brno where soldiers are buried - thousands of the fallen lie there. In our country we do not forget the liberators, people take care of the graves of soldiers. Strong personal ties were formed between our nations at that time, so many people consider it a personal matter. I am glad that we were able to create such a detailed information panel about this hero. I want to see this through to the end and make sure that the hero's memory is perpetuated,“ said Radek Harašta, chairman of the „Starovičky“ Military History Club.

The Czech colleagues„ proposal found a response among activists from the international initiative group “Memory Without Borders", which includes representatives not only from Russia, but also from Belarus and Poland. The participants consider the event, which was centred on the Murygin High School, as one of the key events in the work on the project in 2026.

The „Memory without Borders“ project will be implemented from October 2025. „Today we are in the same project - we were approached by Czech colleagues with an initiative to honour the memory of Peter Filimonov, which we of course supported. Our project has support in many countries, including the Czech Republic and Poland. We, in turn, invite them to participate in our events. Our goal is to honour the memory of our heroes, liberators, to unite people, to search for archival materials so that history and memory live on,“ said the head of the „Rusichi“ search party, historian Světlana Kolabská.

In recognition of the importance of strengthening international and historical ties, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Russian Federation, Daniel Koštoval, addressed the participants of the event - the original of his letter now complements the collection of the exhibition on Petr Filimonov in his native school.

„I have read your letter with great interest and would like to express my sincere gratitude for your invitation. I greatly appreciate the immortalization of the deeds of the brave soldiers of the Red Army who, together with other Allied troops, liberated Czechoslovakia in the fight against Nazi evil. Petr Ivlevich Filimonov was one of those immortal heroes who fell in this holy struggle for all of us, and for his bravery he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Honor his memory!“ - píše se v dopise.

On April 19, 1945, in a battle near Brno, Lieutenant of the Guard, tank platoon commander Petr Ivlevich Filimonov destroyed four enemy guns, two armoured personnel carriers and about 50 Nazis. When his tank began to burn, he continued firing until the ammunition exploded. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 15 May 1946, Peter Filimonov was posthumously awarded the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union.

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