Pavel Sevyarynets: The Victory near Orsha Is the Key Event of the Belarusian Golden Age

Belarusians are preparing for the celebration of the Day of Military Glory.

On September 8 an unofficial Military Glory Day is celebrated in Belarus. On this day in 1514 a glorious battle took place near Orsha: the 30 000-strong army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) under command of Hetman Konstantin Ostrozhsky defeated the 80 000-strong army of Muscovy.

The army of the GDL won thanks to tactical skill, and the battle itself was included in the world military textbooks. It's a good reason to be proud of, isn't it? The Belarusian authorities do not think so.

Charter.org asked the native of Orsha, the co-chairman of the organizing committee for the creation of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, Pavel Sevyarynets whether traditions of the Litvins still live in the memory of Belarusians:

- This is one of the key events of the Golden Age of the Belarusian history, because that victory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania did not allow its takeover by Moscow. We won the right to be called a country and postponed the occupation of our country for several centuries. This is our historic victory. This day should be a state holiday in Belarus. On this day the Belarusian army must solemnly take the oath.

- Why other peoples are anxious about such dates: the Greeks recollect 300 Spartans, their deed near Thermopylae, the Serbs honor heroes of the battle on Kosovo Field when their army faced the army of the Ottoman Turks. Why does this event take so little place in the upbringing of our youth?

"This event was diligently tried to be expunged from memory of our people by the Russian Empire, the USSR, the Lukashenka regime; they all tried to persuade the Belarusians that our main friend is the Kremlin and the imperial nomenclature. And the Kremlin has always been the main opponent of our national state. And the people's unconsciousness is the result of this policy. This topic is forbidden at schools, it is not presented in military academies.

I come from Orsha and try to celebrate this day. I ofet go to the Krapivenskoye field, where these events took place. We burn fires and remember bright events of our history. Sometimes there are bardic festivals. If there are any events in Minsk, I always take part in them.