FAKE NEWS

Information grows day and night

but lies dominate.

Tanks hollow like balloons

resound the lie, and deflate,

fly away in the skies, so far, that

they disappear on the horizon.

Mitch Brezounek

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Silistra was the first Bulgarian city to be occupied by the Red Army on September 8, 1944. The monument of the Red Army in Silistra is quite different from the other ones around the country. It features a stonewall, with the date September 9, 1944, and reliefs with the figures of couple of Soviet soldiers with guns and helmets during an attack. Nearby, an authentic Soviet tank T-34 from World War II is exhibited. The monument is located in City Park in the center of the city, near the Danube River. It is created in 1969 by the sculptor Vasil Simitchiev and the architect Tzvetan Tzvetkov. The monument is known as the Monument of the first Soviet tank that entered Bulgaria.

The inscription on the monument reads as follows: SEPTEMBER 9, 1944 // ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1944 THE GLORIOUS SOVIET SOLDIERS SET A FOOT ON BULGARIAN SOIL. YOUR EXPLOIT AND OUR GRATITUDE SEAL OUR BROTHERLY FRIENDSHIP FOR ETERNITY FROM THE GRATEFUL CITIZENS OF SILISTRA

On March 2, 2018, the monument was painted red and immediately washed out by city authorities, despite bad weather conditions.

Author of the historical text: Evelina Kelbecheva