Fresh evidence of this was the opening of an updated monument dedicated to the fallen of the First World War. On August 3, the solemn opening of the renovated memorial took place in the Belarusian city of Smorgon.

It was not by chance that the city was designated as the site for the construction of the memorial complex. From September 1915 to February 1918, the front line of the Russian-German front passed through the city. The city did not surrender to the enemy for 810 days, tens of thousands of soldiers and officers died here. “Those who have not been near Smorgon have not seen the war” – so the soldiers of that time said.

This memorial had a long and contradictory fate, which accurately reflected all the twists and turns of historical politics in Russia and Belarus over the past two decades.

During the period of the so-called liberalization in Belarus, which flourished in 2015-2020, the topic of memorialization of the First World War in the country receded into the background.

“The project of the memorial complex in Smorgon was launched ten years ago and implemented with the assistance of the Union State,” the Russian Consulate General in Grodno said.

The opening of the Smorgon memorial on August 3, 2024, can be considered a vivid example of a change in the historical policy of Belarus. Russian Consul General Feodosiy Vladyshevsky took part in the opening of the memorial complex.