Since 3 December, 2014, our country has been celebrating the Day of the Unknown Soldier. The date was established in memory of Russian and Soviet soldiers who died during military operations on the territory of the country or abroad, whose names remained unknown.

This date was not chosen by chance. On this day in 1966, to mark the 25th anniversary of the defeat of German troops near Moscow, the ashes of the Unknown Soldier were transferred from the mass grave at the 41st kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway and solemnly buried near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin in the Alexander Garden. In 1967, the memorial architectural ensemble "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" was erected at the burial site and an eternal flame was lit. The plaque in the center of the memorial reads: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal."

Irina Lapina, Head of the SPbGASU Department of History and Philosophy, gave a lecture to students dedicated to this day, when we pay tribute to the memory and respect for the unparalleled feat of the fallen defenders of the Fatherland. As part of the lecture, students were shown Sergey Bondarchuk's film "They Fought for the Motherland," based on Mikhail Sholokhov's novel of the same name, which was played by actors who had gone through the war and knew the truth about those days and events.