21.04.2025
On April 18, the employees of Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division fr om the construction site of Paks II NPP (Hungary) joined a historical and patriotic event “Only memory is higher than the stars”, dedicated to the Year of Defender of the Motherland and the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
The event organized by the editorial office of Rossiyskaya Gazeta jointly with Roscosmos State Corporation and the Search Movement of Russia, with the support of the Public Projects Department of the Executive Office of the RF President, is aimed to pay tribute to the memory of war heroes and to highlight an unbreakable bond between heroic deeds on the ground and space achievements.
The centerpiece of the event was a direct bilateral video conversation between the Russian segment of the ISS, wh ere a battlefield relic, a Medal for Combat Service No. 65671, was delivered on April 8, 2025 by Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft as a symbol of memory of all the people fallen during the Great Patriotic War. It was discovered in the place of battles in the homeland of Yu.A. Gagarin and it has rescued from obscurity the name of a fallen hero – Sergeant Viktor Vasilievich Ryabov from Ulyanovsk region, after 82 years. Pilot cosmonauts, the Hero of Russia Sergey Ryzhikov (the commander of manned transport vehicle Soyuz MS-27) and Ivan Wagner (an onboard engineer of Soyuz MS-26) demonstrated the hero’s medal delivered from Earth on air from aboard the ISS.
The video conference was attended by the employees of ASE JSC Branch Office for the construction of Paks II NPP, as well as representatives of the Coordination Board of Russian Compatriots in Hungary.
Vitaly Polyanin, Vice President – Director for Paks II NPP Construction, welcomed the participants in the event. He pointed out the importance of historical commemoration and patriotic education of young people. “We are meeting on the International Day for Monuments and Sites. On this day, I would like to remind you that 80 years ago the Soviet troops liberated Budapest from fascist invaders. 140 thousand of Soviet soldiers and officers were buried in Hungary forever. And remembering them is our sacred duty”, Vitaly Polyanin noted.
