The monument to the engineer soldiers was opened in the Pridnestrovian village of Parkany. The event was timed to coincide with two significant dates: the 80th anniversary of the formation of the combat engineer battalion in Parkany and the 30th anniversary of the transfer of the battalion under the jurisdiction of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vadim Krasnoselsky took part in the ceremony.
They recalled in the course of the solemn event how the unit was created. 21 officers, 38 sergeants, 181 privates – such was the personnel of the separate engineer-sapper battalion at the time of its formation in 1942. The combat route during the Great Patriotic War exceeded 10 thousand kilometers – from the Caucasus to Austria through Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria. The servicemen of the sapper battalion participated in seven major operations – Gizel, Nikopol, Nikolaev-Odessa, Dniester, Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna. The sappers of this unit laid 198240 mines, neutralized 175630 units, installed 113 kilometers of barbed wire, built 84 bridges, restored 116, during the Second World War years. The battalion received 12 Stalin awards, was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. The servicemen were awarded 2180 orders and medals.
They talked at today's event about the modern history of the battalion: in 1992, officers and warrant officers stood up to protect the Pridnestrovian land. The personnel of the detachments of the territorial rescue squad, the Bendery Central Internal Affairs Directorate, and the Slobodzeya military commissariat were formed and trained with their assistance. A militia unit was formed on the basis of the 115th separate engineer-sapper battalion from June 19 to August 31, 1992, which defended 20 kilometers of the left bank of the Dniester, participated in breaking through the defense through the bridge in Bendery. 55 officers and ensigns were awarded the medal "To Defender of Pridnestrovie". 26 defenders were awarded posthumously. In 1997, the battalion was awarded the Order of the Republic for the steadfastness and courage shown in the fighting to protect Pridnestrovie and its state interests. It was given the "Guards" honorary title in 2017.
The President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Vadim Krasnoselsky spoke about the courage of military sappers, the importance of their service activities, as well as the significance of the decision taken in the early 90s to transfer the battalion under the jurisdiction of Pridnestrovie. The PMR President noted that the engineer-sapper battalion has a glorious combat path, was the leaders and personnel of this unit that showed them very brightly and in a timely manner during the years of the Moldo-Pridnestrovian war, defeating the attack of the nationalists of Moldova.
The monument to the engineer soldiers in a solemn atmosphere was opened by the PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky, the First President of the PMR Igor Smirnov and the Minister of Defense of the PMR Major General Oleg Obruchkov.
The memory of the sappers, whose lives were cut short in the service of the Motherland, was honored with a minute of silence. Conducted a lithium for the dead, Archbishop Sawa of Tiraspol and Dubossary held the ceremony of consecrating the monument, at the foot of which the first flowers lay today as a sign of respect, gratitude and unfading memory of the feat of sappers.
The meeting participants at the end of the solemn ceremony examined the updated infrastructure of the unit – the caserns, the gym, the dining room. At some sites, repair and construction work has been completed, at others it has been suspended only for the duration of the ceremonial events. A festive concert was organized in the army club: artists of the orchestra of the General Staff of the PMR Armed Forces performed in front of the servicemen.
