Celebration of the 76th Anniversary of the Great Victory

Celebration of the 76th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was held on May 8, 2021 in Wellington. Wellington Russian Club invited to the celebration: veterans of Russian Arctic Convoy Club, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in New Zealand and Embassy staff, military-historical group “10th Stalingrad Division” from Hamilton, compatriots, residents of the city and suburbs.

The military historical group, led by Oleg Maximov, organized an exhibition of photographs and artifacts of the Second World War.

It has become a tradition to open the ceremony with a solemn march “Holy War”. The Great Banner of Victory and the national flag of the Russian Federation were carried to the stage. Documentary newsreels in English and Russian with English subtitles have been shown.

Georgii V. Zuev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in New Zealand congratulated all the guests on Victory Day. He stressed the importance of keeping the memory of the Great Victory and the terrible price the Soviet Union and the World had to pay for eradicating the Nazi threat. Chris King, Honorary President of the Russian Arctic Convoy Club, congratulated on Victory Day and noted the joint contribution of the anti-Hitler coalition in defeating Nazism. Victor Gaiduch, President of Wellington Russian Club congratulated everyone on the Great Victory Day and presented the Certificates of Appreciation to all volunteers who took active part in preparing the concert.

Creative team, led by music director Galina Jilina, performed war-year songs, dance and musical compositions: opera soloist Olga Shanina, ballerina Alina Kulikova, musician and singer Vladimir Zvegintsev, song performers Anna Kostina, Andrey and Lyubov Volkov, dance group leader Anita Perin-Zgomba, Katerina Lawson (7 years old), sound engineer Alexei Medvedev.