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Civil society activists stage commemorative ceremony at Vasil Bykaw's grave

Civil society activists on May 7 held a commemorative ceremony at the grave of prominent Belarusian writer Vasil Bykaw, a prolific author of novels about World War II, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over the Nazis in the war, known in Belarus and some other former Soviet states as the Great Patriotic War.

While speaking at the ceremony on Minsk's Uskhodniya cemetery, poet Uladzimir Nyaklyayew, who coordinates a recently launched civil society campaign called “Tell the Truth,” said that Ulyanawskaya Street, named after Bolshevik leader Lenin, and a new subway station under construction in Minsk should be named after Bykaw.

He suggested starting a signature-collection campaign for the commemoration of the Belarusian writer on May 9, the Victory Day, and ending it on June 22, the day when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

Bykaw was a poet of the truth about the war and life,” Mr. Nyaklyayew said. “He was a writer who shared the truth that gives us support today.”

Photos:
2 – Uladzimir Nyaklyayew (in the center)
3 –Messrs. Nyaklyayew and Burawkin
4 – Mr. Nyaklyayew holding the commemoration petition
5 -- Iryna Bykaw, the widow of the Belarusian writer