YEREVAN, 27 MAY, ARMENPRESS. Ahead of the 97^th anniversary of the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia and the victory in the Battle of Sardarapat, at the initiative of “Armenpress” News Agency and with the participation of representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Armenia, a commemoration ceremony was held near the Armenian-Russian fraternal tombstone located next to the St. Mary Church in the Arshaluys village of Armavir Province on May 27.

 “After finding out that there was an Armenian –Russian fraternal tombstone located next to the St. Mary Church in the Arshaluys village of Armavir Province, for the first time, we gathered with this team to pay tribute to the soldiers who died for Armenia’s independence. The existence of this fraternal tombstone shows once again the centuries-old friendship between the Armenians and the Russians. Such a rich history promises a brilliant future for the Armenian-Russian relations,”Director of “Armenpress” News Agency Aram Ananyan emphasized, as “Armenpress” reports.

 The following is engraved on the Armenian-Russian fraternal tombstone: “This is the tombstone of patriot Stepan Aloyan and a Russian soldier for the glory of heroism. They died in the Battle of Sardarapat at the age of 23, in 1918.”

In his turn, envoy of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Armenia Andrey Ivanov, deeply impressed with the existence of an Armenian-Russian fraternal tombstone, said the following: “I’m seeing an Armenian-Russian fraternal tombstone for the first time ever. We have visited several symbolic sites during the two years of service in Armenia, but we had never seen such a thing,” Andrey Ivanov stated.