On July 21, the search expedition across Belarus came back to Kazan. It united members of Regional Public Youth Organization “Otechestvo” and Kazan Union of Students Search Groups, including KFU “Snezhny Desant”.

This year the expedition went to the summer “Vakhta Pamyati” on the bank of the Zelvyanka River in Hrodna Region of Belarus, 180 km from the Brest Fortress. Kazan students set a camp here and June 1-16 were searching for the remains of soldiers died during the Great Patriotic War.  

In 1941 the 6th mechanized corps was defeated around here. Having suffered heavy losses in violent fighting in the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the command of the 6th corps made a decision to retire. On their way the solders came up against the bank sloughs of the Zelvyanka River flowing from North to South. The solders had to look for bridges, unoccupied by German landing troops and strong enough to hold up the tanks. Such crossings were found near the villages of Rostevichi and Kosheli, but it did not save the solders.

Search groups from Kazan located the remains of eight Red Army solders opposite the crossings and buried them with all military honors. They also found dozens of ammunition fragments, as the Children and Youth Committee of Kazan informed.

Besides, during the expedition students visited the Brest Fortress where a tour was given by Brest search group member. The group participated in a volunteer clean-up at the Muslim cemetery of the local Tatar community.  The searchers reconstructed many monuments dated the XVI century.