On April 25, 1945 Soviet and US forces linked up near Torgau, Germany, on the Elbe river

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

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The 60-th anniversary of that history-making event will be marked in Washington today. Our two countries fought against Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Talking to RIA Novosti, the Russian Embassy's spokesman Yevgeny Khorishko noted that wreaths will be laid at the Spirit of Elbe memorial in Arlington cemetery near Washington. This ceremony will involve Russia's Ambassador to the United States Yury Ushakov, heads of other CIS countries' diplomatic missions, as well as representatives of the State Department, the Pentagon and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Thirty-five Soviet and US veterans, who had fought in the Second World War, will also attend the ceremony. Festivities will also be organized in Torgau, Germany, involving Saxony prime minister Georg Milbrandt, Russia's Ambassador to Germany Vladimir Kotenev, US charge d'affaires ad interim in Germany John Cloud and WWII veterans. "Soviet and US soldiers joined hands 60 years ago, that is, on April 25, 1945," Torgau mayor Andrea Staude noted. "They stood on a damaged bridge spanning the Elbe river near Torgau. That photo became a well-known symbol of the end of WWII. The current anniversary is a good pretext for remembering the past and looking into the future," she added. The historic Elbe link-up involved advanced units of the 58-th Guards rifle division serving with the First Ukrainian front's Fifth Guards Army and the First US Army's 69-th infantry division. On April 25 Moscow fired 24 salvos from 324 guns to mark this event. Celebrations were also held on Times Square, New York.

Bookmark On April 25, 1945 Soviet and US forces linked up near Torgau, Germany, on the Elbe river