On May 8, 2011, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Volodymyr Shkurov, and staff members of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission took part in the traditional ceremony of laying wreaths at the monument to Soviet Soldiers in Athens. The event was also attended by Ambassadors and employees of the Embassies of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan, participants and veterans of the Second World War, representatives of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Greek public at large.
In his address to the attendees, Ukraine’s Ambassador underlined that the joint victory of the 1945 will forever remain a symbol of the heroic past, greatness of spirit and brotherhood of nations in the name of defeating fascism, which serves as a true example of patriotism for descendants.
Ukrainian diplomats then laid flowers at the grave of the Soviet soldier, Mykola Schavel’, at the Athens military cemetery of soldiers of the allied troops of the anti-Hitler Coalition. They were joined by the leadership of the «Hellenic – Ukrainian Chamber» organization and the Greek-Ukrainian Friendship Society «Spilka» (Fellowship). The ceremony began with a memorial service for the fallen and those innocently killed in the Second World War.
On the occasion of the Victory’s 66th anniversary, Embassy representatives greeted the veterans of the Great Patriotic War and participants in the liberation of Ukraine and presented to them bouquets of flowers and tokens of appreciation.